Blind
by SabastianScott
Summary: 'What if' is one of life's biggest mysteries. So, 'what if' Mai was blind? 'What if' her pyschic abilities allowed her to sense everything around her, even the fine details of writing on paper? 'What if' really is a mystery. T for future scenes.
1. Chapter 1

**So I had re-upload this chapter, AGAIN, because the line breaks aren't working, AGAIN.**

**Dangit.**

**I don't own Ghost Hunt. Enjoy.**

It was a typical day for Mai Taniyama. Get up, get dressed in an already-planned outfit (today, her uniform), eat, and go to school with her friends helping her get there in one piece. Then, once at school, deal with taunts, go to class, deal with more stupid taunts, and tell ghost stories.

But then.

In enters the world's biggest narcissist, Kazuya Shibuya. AKA Naru the Narcissist.

She ends up working for him, gets a new 'family' and friends, and so on, but a little different in this story.

Why? Simple.

In this story, Mai Taniyama is completely and utterly blind.

_**BLIND**_

POV Mai

April

Thursday

File one

It was raining, and I was in a classroom with my two best friends, Kieko and Michiru after class, and we were doing my favorite activity. Telling ghost stories, and I was in the middle of mine.

"And then the woman led the policeman through the dark hallways to the public restroom in the back. Once there, the policeman told her to go back inside and wait to see if she could hear the voice again. And she did just as she was told. 'Do you want me to cover you with a red coat?' She answered 'Y-yes.' AND THEN, she screamed! The policeman burst through the door and found the girl totally covered in blood as if she had a red coat draped over her."

"Mai you know we hate it when you use that creepy voice," Michiru said as Keiko leaned into her for comfort.

I just smiled. _That day was like any other, staying late after school telling ghost stories. Every time we finish a story we turn off a light, and then once we're all done there's always one light left, meaning there was another person in the room. _I thought as I turned off my light (although I only knew it was on in the first place because of the on-off switch).

"AH, it's so dark!" Keiko said, getting a bit teary eyed.

I remarked sarcastically, "Oh no, what a disaster!"

"Sorry," I heard Keiko mutter back. I patted her on the shoulder to show that it was okay. She smiled brightly (as in bright enough for a blind girl to tell it was bright) before we both turned to Michiru.

"You're next Michiru," I said.

_The other person is supposedly a ghost._

"Okay, this one is about the old schoolhouse," she began. I cringed at the mention of the place. Even when I tried to sense the building or the tarp over it, it seems to crackle and cringe, so it really freaked me out.

"Do you mean that creepy old building down the street that's collapsing?" Keiko asked. _No, not at all Keiko…_ I thought.

Michiru nodded before continuing, "It's not collapsing, it was being demolished when all the workers suddenly quit because of a curse." _A curse?_ "Lots of people have died in that schoolhouse over the years. Most famously a teacher that committed suicide, so when they decided to build the new school, they started to tear down the old one… But then, the ceiling collapsed on some of the workers. The demolition ended that day. Last year they started the demolition again to make way for a new gymnasium, but a truck driving by lost control and crashed into a group of kids outside, killing some students." Keiko and I both gasped. _K-killed?!_ "But there's more. I heard about this from an upper classman. One night a student was walking past the old school, and in one of the windows they saw a glowing figure in the window before it disappeared." I gasped again. _So is it really haunted?_ Michiru shut off her light. "Here goes. One."

"Two, Keiko said shakily.

"Three," I said nervously.

"Four," said a masculine voice. Michiru and Keiko gasped then shrieked before Keiko grabbed me by the neck while I was counting my breaths to calm down. I wasn't focused on new arrivals, so he scared me too. I did not like the unknown, the unknown scares me, and that DEFINETLY went under 'unknown'.

"The ghost is here to murder us!" one of them shouted, I couldn't tell which, I was more focused on the girl who was holding me for dear life. I heard the lights flicker on, the only indication to me that the person had turned the lights on. I sensed Michiru stand up and face the door.

"Oh please tell me that was you just now!" she said to the man at the door.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked, acting like he hadn't just scared us to death and back. Jerk.

Michiru and Keiko fell back to their seats while Keiko said, "I thought for sure it was the ghost!"

I starting rubbing my neck as the man started talking again, "Sorry, I didn't expect anyone to be here, but then I heard your voices and I couldn't help myself." He turned towards us with a smile. _Fake smile_ I thought. He may have been smiling but his face muscles were tense, a sure sign he was faking. Michiru and Keiko didn't seem to notice, though, and stood up for a better look at him, then said things like, "Oh no it's totally fine!" while giggling and running towards him.

_Is he attractive somehow?_ I thought. Sure, I could sense exactly what he looked like, but to me, it was just a shape in the darkness that was my world. Even though I've been blind since I was young, I never had a problem seeing. I had a weird sense of what was around me, and occasionally I see lights in random locations, but only at those locations. I started growing accustomed to it, but it still scared me when I first see one of these lights. After all, if your main way of 'seeing' is sensing everything around you, even the near-invisible scratches on glass or the grain of wood from across the room and suddenly a bright light when everything else is still dark, well, I guessed you would have trouble with it too.

"So what year are you?" one of them asked.

"I'm seventeen this year," he answered, facing the two in front of him.

_Normally someone would just say they're a senior _I thought as I faced him to get a better 'look' at him.

"So we were just telling ghost stories," Michiru said as he faced her.

"I see, well maybe I could join you guys sometime," he said.

"Wow, you mean you like telling ghost stories too?" Keiko asked.

He nodded while saying, "Yes," which brought both of my friends into a giggling fit.

"You seem like a really cool guy, what's your name?" Michiru asked as I finally got up to figure this guy out better. _There's something… strange… about this guy…_

"My name is Kazuya," he answered.

_His eyes… they seem… cold and set, not like what the rest of his face, where he is forcing a smile._

"Okay Kazuya," I said, making myself known as he turned towards me, "I have one question. Why are you here?"

"There are some things I need to take care of," he said, turning towards the door.

"What are you waiting for?" I said, indicating the door. I did not trust this guy.

Keiko and Michiru followed, giggling. Michiru then said, "Do you need our help or anything?"

_Oh man…_

"No, but I would love to be invited to join you the next time you tell ghost stories," he answered smoothly.

"Of course, you're welcome anytime!" Keiko said happily.

"How about tomorrow, after school?" Michiru said.

"Okay, but where?" Kazuya asked.

"Right here!" Keiko said.

_Something's fishy about him. I better get to the bottom of this, for Keiko and Michiru's sake…_

_**BLIND**_

Friday

"I love this weather!" I said to myself, "I'm so glad I left early!" Not that I had a choice if I wanted to go by myself, my 'safe route' for if I need or want to go to school by myself is rather long. "I've got all the cherry blossoms to myself!" I said as I came by the old school building. I started thinking of Michiru's story… could they be true?

"Ehehehe…" I giggled nervously before continuing a few steps before stopping again and sensing the building once more. Some crows cried in the distance. _Perfect horror movie setting…_

"The more I 'look' at this place the more I believe the stories…" I said as I walked to the door of the old building. Through the cracks in the glass I was able to sense the inside. _The dust has been disturbed recently…_ I thought before stepping in. I sensed around myself, although my senses were already on hyper-drive in here. _Let's see, dust, spider webs, shoe racks, camera, spiders-wait, camera? What's that doing here?_

"I thought this place was abandoned…" I said to no one. "It doesn't make sense that someone would just leave it here…" Who would even step into this place, none the less stay here long enough to set up a camera.

Suddenly a blur of light came by, startling me while I heard a very masculine voice call out, "Who's there?!"

The light was still blurry and confusing me, and I tried to back away from it while shouting out, "I'm sorry, I'll leave now!" before accidently hitting a shoe rack, causing it to start falling.

The next few seconds were a blur, but next thing I know I was on the ground, disoriented, not able to make sense of my surroundings while more blurs of light came by, which for a blind person, well, is very, VERY confusing. I took a moment to orientate myself before turning towards where had just been, where I sensed a man lying on the ground.

Quickly I sprung over asking, "Hey mister, are you okay?" He didn't respond even the slightest. The blurs were going hectic now and I wasn't sure why they were or WHAT they were for that matter. _Oh no what should I do i-_

"What's going on in here?" I heard a man ask. _Kazuya_ I thought, sensing him at the door.

_DAMN!_

He wasn't smiling, and it seemed strangely more natural. "Lin, what just happened?" Kazuya asked the man, coming by his side. The man began to try to get up before I sensed it.

It chilled my spine and caused my brain to feel weird. _Blood._

"You're bleeding, can you stand?" Kazuya asked.

"Yeah," the man-Lin I guessed- said softly.

"Oh my gosh I am really sorry about this! H-he startled me and I guess I turned around too fast and I-" I said.

"Never mind about that, is there a doctor close by?" Kazuya said, facing me slightly.

I stood up to try to help Lin up and said, "There's a doctor just down the street from here." I reached my hand to try to help the injured man but he smacked my hand away.

"No thanks, you've done enough already as it is," the man said darkly while Kazuya helped him up onto his shoulder.

"But…" I said, trailing off. _I am now on his least-favorite person list. Not that isn't someplace I'm not used to, but still._

"We met yesterday, right? What's your name?" Kazuya said, adjusting the man on his shoulder who was obviously taller and probably heavier than he.

"It's, uh, Mai," I said nervously, I was worried for the taller man-oh yeah Lin is his name- even though Lin didn't seem to like me.

"Alright then Mai, I thought you'd like to know you're going to be late for your first class since the morning bell just rang," He said slightly snidely.

I started running as it dawned on me. _I'm late?! I don't believe this! What the heck was that all about?! I never want to set foot in that creepy place again!_ I thought as I ran into the school.

_**BLIND**_

"Mai are you leaving now?" Keiko asked after the bell rung.

"We're supposed to tell ghost stories with that cute guy, remember?" Michiru added.

I stuffed my books into my bag as fast as I could while saying, "Not me." I had had it with today. I had broken a camera, injured a guy, was late for school, got scolded for it, and teased for just being a 'creepy blind girl'. The only pluses for today were that my grades were excellent and that lunch was good. Not much to make up for the rest of the day. I was ready to just go home and do things my pace.

"Aww come on Mai, please?" Keiko begged. "This is our chance to tell ghost stories with a senior!" Yeah, a senior that doesn't even seem to be going to school here.

"Did you say ghost stories?" a girl with glasses and two braids said from the door. I had only recently started going to school here but I knew that she was a girl from another class called Kuroda. "Is that what you do after school every day?" she continued. She didn't seem happy.

We stayed silent.

"Well than no wonder I've had this headache for so long. I'm very attuned to spirits. When they gather in groups I get headaches."

"So you're blaming us for that?" I said. _No it can't possibly be our hours of homework? _I thought sarcastically.

"Yes I am. Whenever you tell one of your little ghost stories you attract low level spirits and they attract stronger spirits. And then we're in big trouble, so when you entertain yourselves with these stories you're putting me at risk!" Kuroda said stepping in front of us.

"So tell me," I heard and sensed Kazuya say from the doorway efficiently sneaking up on me for the third time and startling Kuroda, "If you're sensitive to spirits like you claim do you sense anything with the old schoolhouse?"

I sighed while Michiru and Keiko said at exactly the same time, "Oh my god Kazuya came to find us!" True, this wasn't the classroom we were to meet in.

Kuroda starting stepping towards Kazuya while saying, "Hold on, are you the one who put these girls up to telling these ridiculous ghost stories?"

"You didn't answer my question," Kazuya said calmly. "Could it be your psychic abilities are made up?" Oh, that had to hurt.

"For your information there are numerous spirits of those who died in the war that gather in the old schoolhouse. In fact, I'm positive that building was used as a hospital during the war. I've just seen too many injured spirits in there," Kuroda said, quite upset.

Kazuya simply responded, "I was not aware of a hospital being here during the war. I know that this school was founded well before the war so maybe, this was a medical school?"

Kuroda then stopped being so tense and looked at him in shock before turning her face away saying, "Look I don't know. But I really do see spirits, if you're not psychic then you wouldn't understand."

"Sorry Kazuya, can we do this some other time?" Keiko said shyly, obviously upset about it.

"Yeah I'm not in the mood anymore either," Michiru added, her head down.

"No? Perhaps another day," he said, turning to leave before looking at me. "Oh, and Mai? Would you mind coming with me for a moment?"

_Not that it seems like I have a choice… Aw man!_

We stepped out in the hallway as Michiru, Keiko, and Kuroda left. "How is your friend doing?" I asked when they had left. His fake smile was now gone, and I could tell he wasn't too happy with me. _Well you're not too ideal to me either!_

"Yes about him, he suffered a sprain to his left leg and I'm afraid he won't be walking for a while," he said as we walked towards the exit.

"Gosh, can you please tell him I'm sorry? So what were you two doing there anyway?" I said. _And with a camera at that…_

"We were working," he responded.

"Oh I get it," I said as I stopped walking, "You work for him are you like his assistant or something?"

Kazuya continued walking while saying, "No not quite." He stopped and turned to face me. What did he mean, 'not quite'? "He's the assistant, I'm the boss," he said.

…_WHAT?!_

He continued, "Now my assistant is stuck in bed. I believe it is up to you to take his place."

"HEY NOW hold on just a minute!"

"The camera is broken," well, duh, a shoe rack fell on it, "My assistant tried to stop you from touching the camera, and now it is in several pieces."

"Okay can I just buy you a new one or something?" I said, although I doubted I could.

"It's… quite expensive," he said. _Then why was it next to shaky and heavy shoe racks?_

"Oh then, I don't know what to do…" I thought more to myself. I hardly had the job I did, since most would not hire a blind girl, and since it seems as soon as one person finds out the whole town knows, which is why I often have had to move.

"You can't afford to reimburse the damaged equipment which means there's only one other course we can take," he calmly said. _I… don't like where this is going. _"You'll work off the debt as my assistant."

"Your… assistant? You seriously think I should start working for you?" I asked shakily. I never actually got asked to work for the employer BY the employer… although I wouldn't get paid, it still seemed strange.

"Well, that's what I said," he snidely answered. I huffed-I still don't like Kazuya in the least.

Then as curiosity got the better of me I asked, "What do you do at your job?"

Kazuya turned slightly away from me before answering, "I hunt ghosts." Huh? Is this guy serious? "In other words I exorcise spirits- ghosts. My company, Shibuya Psychic Research, was hired to conduct an investigation on the old schoolhouse."

"Psychic research?" I said out loud, not really meaning to.

"Is that a question?" he said quite coldly before turning away from me and heading down the hallway. "Psychic research is another term for spiritual investigations. We basically examine and scrutinize reports of supernatural phenomenon," he said as he walked before he turned around to face me again, his shoe squeaking on the floor as he did so. He then said, "And I run the company."

"Uh…" _Crap. Mai, what have you just gotten yourself into. Also, how long did it take you to think up the dramatic way of revealing something about yourself? Turn over your shoulder and say it bluntly? I'd hate see how he would react to a confession… _

_**BLIND**_

Friday

evening

I followed Kazuya outside, he did say I started right now, and I had no doubt he would literally drag me by ear to the schoolhouse. Kazuya lead me behind the schoolhouse and to a van. He opened the door, revealing lots of equipment. "Oh man!" I said. I couldn't help myself.

"One week ago your principle contacted my company. He told me that the problem was that they constantly have to run damage control over a rumor that the schoolhouse is haunted.

"When I checked the records, I was able to verify until eighteen years ago, while the old schoolhouse was still being used, there would be at least one or two deaths inside the structure every year," Kazuya said as he handed me a heavy box of shelves and began typing on a laptop.

"It's also true that when construction crews were demolishing the east side of the building, there was an accident were the roof collapsed prematurely. None of the workers died as a result, although five were injured in the incident which was ultimately blamed on human error. Construction ended with only a third of the planned demolition work ever being finished." We started to walk inside, each of us carrying something.

"A teacher did in fact commit suicide in the building, but that was explained in the suicide note left by the victim.

"The incident with the track last year was a drunk-driving accident. That's when construction was stopped for the last time. No doubt the rumors were a part in this decision. Based on my research the existence of paranormal activity here is nothing more than fiction. For a place this active every occurrence has a reasonable explanation.

"We will set up base here," Kazuya said, finished with his explanation, setting down his box on a table as we finally reached our destination in the schoolhouse.

"Base?" I asked. _What is this 'base' for?_

He turned towards me before continuing with, "Precisely. We will conduct all of our observations from this room."

"Oh yeah, of course, guess I'm still learning," I responded sheepishly while Kazuya walked past me.

"Set up those shelves for me. I'll start bringing in the equipment," he said as he got to the door.

"You're going to leave me here all by myself?" I asked. _Of course, he doesn't know I'm blind, so he wouldn't even think that I was too fragile for this or something. So this is what it's like to not be super-protected… But this place is still supposed to be haunted._

He paused and turned back, saying "Would you rather carry this stuff in? It's heavy; some of it weighs almost a hundred pounds."

"I'll stick to shelves…" I said, glad I had to set up shelves numerous times before-and hoped the instructions wouldn't be laminated. _But I still can't believe how stuck up this guy is. I mean sure it was my fault that his assistant got hurt but does he have to act so self-important?!_ Suddenly I heard a creak from the building. My senses were hyper-active again, jumping to even the smallest moving dust mote before I could try to focus it on the walls and ceiling around me. The ceiling creaked again and my senses all went straight to the ceiling, trying to sense anything out of the ordinary. I heard a cackle of electricity as I backed all my senses back to me and covered my head while leaning down a bit. I slowly sent my senses towards the door as I sensed a hand go on the doorway. I jerked away until I could sense a certain Kazuya holding wires in the doorway.

"Stop goofing off and get back to work."

_It's official. I hate him._

_**BLIND**_

Soon all the equipment had been set up and on magnificently put-together shelves which I magnificently put together. Thank goodness for non-laminate instructions and practice. Whoever made laminating can just be covered in laminate and cut themselves on the edge of anything laminated for all I cared for the stuff. _Yay, plastic-covered paper. Now I can't read the indentions or lead and ink trails of the paper…_

"What are those?" I asked, sensing two strange camera-like objects. _If he doesn't tell me I'll threaten to 'accidentally' use them as foot stools…_

"An inferred camera and a thermal imagery camera. They're used to shoot in total darkness. This one uses thermography to record temperatures. When a spirit appears the temperature near it will drop and show up on the camera," Kazuya explained, walking to another shelf of equipment. Guess that means I'm an inferred camera.

"That's amazing that you know how to use all this stuff," I said, trying to more finely sense some of the equipment.

"No it's not, my brain just works differently than yours," Kazuya said.

"I see. After all you are Mr. Hot-Shot Boss so you might as well do everything!" I said slightly sarcastic. "But what made you decide to go into the ghost hunting business?" I asked curiously.

"Because someone has to do it," he answered simply, looking over more equipment.

"Wow, have you had any cases that you weren't able to explain?" I said. I might not like the guy, but I did like the paranormal.

"No, I'm very good at my job," he answered nonchalantly.

"Amazing, he's as smart as he is handsome," I said to myself. _Well, at least my friends think he's handsome, so I'll just go with it._

"So you think I'm handsome, huh?" Kazuya said, turning towards me.

_Uh… crap…_

"Uh, I mean that's what all the girls at school are saying," I said quickly.

Kazuya turned back to the equipment before responding with, "Well, they have very good taste."

I naturally was taken aback by this. He's already praised himself in some way or another how many times now?. _I can't believe this guy! Sure he may be (supposedly) good-looking and extremely successful at such a young age, but I've never seen a bigger narcissist in my life! From now on your name is Naru, as in Naru the Narcissist!_

_**BLIND**_

"Well that's all we have to do for today," Kazuya-I mean, Naru said, stirring me from my half-asleep state I had fallen in after he made me set up cameras everywhere. And write down temperatures every hour. And let's not forget all the microphones. The worse was definitely the monitors. I couldn't read anything on them, so I came to hate the appliance.

Wait a second… "For today…?" I said. "You mean…"

"I'll see you here tomorrow," Naru continued while leaving.

"Aw man…" I had no doubt he would be able to track down where I lived if I tried to avoid work…

I walked out of the building and to the street, and took a deep breath before sensing for anyone around me. I instantly sensed Keiko and Michiru as I heard the click of a flashlight being turned on.

"Mai? Have you been here with Kazuya all night long?" Keiko asked worried.

"What were you two doing?" Michiru added on.

"It's kind of a long story…" I began.

_**BLIND**_

POV Naru

I walked over to the van to do a bit more research on the land itself, perhaps it is something that happened on the land that caused the haunting.

Although, what really bothered me was the girl, Mai Taniyama.

She did fine with her work, well as good as you would expect from a high school freshman girl, but the way she looked at me was… strange. It seemed like she wasn't really looking at me, but more like she was analyzing me. And her eyes themselves… They seemed to have a film over it, making what I guessed were normally light brown eyes to be tinged slightly blue. It seemed like she shouldn't be able to see through that film, but she definitely wasn't stumbling around. She got around just fine, and looked at people-however strangely she did it- when she talked to them. Occasionally, when she was focused on something else she wouldn't notice that the lights were very bright in there or that it was extremely dark in a hallway or room. She didn't seem bothered by it. Once, when she was on camera fixing something, I noticed her eyes seemed extremely scratched, but yet it was hardly noticeable unless you looked her directly in the eyes.

Something about her definitely bothered me. It seemed like she couldn't see at all, but she certainly didn't act or seem like she was blind. For one, she didn't wear sunglasses like most blind people did. Two, she was able to read instructions and write down temperatures just fine, and she didn't trip over anything. Thirdly, she didn't seem entirely sure what she thought about how I looked. She would always say that my undeniable attractiveness was simply what she heard, but what of her personal opinion?

Something about Mai Taniyama wasn't natural. And I was going to find out what.

_**BLIND**_

POV Mai

I had told my story about what I had gone through for the last few hours after us three had sat down on a bench.

"Paranormal investigation?" Keiko asked.

"So he's not an upper classman," Michiru said, trying to process it.

"According to him he's a ghost hunter," I repeated. I just told you this I'm pretty sure.

"A ghost hunter?" they both asked.

"Mai?" Kuroda appeared. What's she doing here so late? "I was wondering if you would introduce me to him."

"Introduce you? To Naru?" I asked. Who in their right mind would want that?

"What's this Naru stuff all about?" Michiru asked. Oh right, I didn't tell them about that.

"That guy's got to be the biggest narcissist I've ever met in my life! I can't believe I actually have to work for him now!" I responded.

"You know, I have many psychic abilities myself and I think I could really help Kazuya with his work," Kuroda continued.

I tried to persuade her nicely out of this by saying, "You know since he is a professional and all maybe it's not such a good idea for you to get involved…"

"Well I am in no means an amateur!" Kuroda exclaimed. _Seriously, you don't want to be involved. I would send you in my stead if I could._

We sat there in an awkward silence for a bit before Michiru and Keiko stood up, Michiru saying, "Let's go Mai," as she took my arm and walked/dragged me down the street.

We made it in front of a shop before we stopped as Keiko said, "That girl is such a weirdo, she's been like that since middle school."

"Yeah, she's a freak," Michiru added on. _Wow, thanks guys for the censorship to the constantly taunted 'freak of nature' right here._

I turned towards Keiko before asking, "Wasn't she in a lot of the same classes as you Keiko?"

"Yeah, and she would constantly bug people about her spirits or whatever," she said as she and Michiru started down the street again. I turned around to see if Kuroda was still there, but she had left.

"Wait, I know why she wants to help Kazuya! Maybe she's already fallen in love with Kazuya!" "EW! Gross!" they said before they started giggling. _I should have taped them when they talked to him earlier…_ I started walking home thinking about Naru's new nickname. _Good taste? HA! If only they knew…_

_**BLIND**_

Saturday

I walked up to the van where I figured Naru was, since while I can sense things around or inside something I can't if the opening is not to the left or right or in front of where I was. Since I was facing the front of the van I couldn't be sure, but I thought I could sense a leg hanging off the edge on the other side from under the van. Sure enough, he was there, reading something on a clipboard.

"What's up?" I asked, curious to what he was doing.

"Checking yesterday's data. So far there seems to be nothing unusual," he answered before I could sense a man and a woman walk up.

The woman's heels clicked as she said snidely, "That's some fancy equipment you got there. It seems a bit too high-tech for a couple of children to be playing with."

"And who might you be?" Naru asked, not very excited to be called a child, apparently.

"I'm Ayako, the shrine maiden. The principle wasn't sold on you so he called me to drive the spirits out," she responded.

"I was under the impression that only innocent virgins can become shrine maidens," Naru said snidely. _Yep, definitely not a good idea to call him a child…_ I thought as the man and I started cracking up.

"I see, and, your point?" Ayako said slightly peeved.

"At the very least I'd say you're looking a little old to be calling yourself a maiden," Naru said bluntly.

"Nice, very funny you smartass," she said, her voice shaking with anger. My initial examination of her showed chic clothing and long hair.

I turned my attention to the man that was behind her, still cracking up as Naru asked, "You, you don't seem to be her assistant."

"I'm a monk from Mount Kouya. The name's Takigawa Houshou," he responded, straightening up.

"Since when were monks allowed to have long hair?" Naru asked. _He…. Doesn't like newcomers…_

"Ahem, apostate," Ayako coughed.

"Hey I'm just on a little hiatus, okay? At any rate playtime is over, kids. Now you may have gotten this gig because your office is nearby, but the principle himself said it seemed like a scam to have a teenager running the show," the monk said, getting a bit aggravated.

_Well, at least it wasn't child…_

Naru coolly responded with, "Did he now?"

"The principle's wasting his money. There's no need to have all of us for such a simple job," Ayako said confidently.

"Yeah, all he really needed was me," the monk said. _Takigawa Houshou… I think I'll just call him 'Monk', neither of his names really fit._

"Right, I wouldn't be so sure," Ayako argued back. _I get a feeling that this will happen a lot._

They just stared at each other until we were interrupted by a voice saying, "Oh, thank goodness you're all here. That haunted old schoolhouse has been terrorizing me for weeks."

"Kuroda?" I said quickly.

"You see, I'm a psychic. The souls of those trapped there have-"

"Stop grandstanding. You're just looking for attention," Ayako rudely interrupted. "Are you really that desperate for people to like you?"

"Excuse me that was extremely rude!" I came to her defense. I could handle being taunted, but I couldn't help but be upset when it happened to others.

"You know it's the truth," Ayako calmly said back. "She claims to have psychic abilities in hopes it will somehow make her popular."

"That is totally uncalled for!" I argued back.

Suddenly Kuroda's muscles got tense and cold, meaning she was mad. "I'm going to call a spirit to haunt you," she said coldly.

"Hold on Kuroda," I said. It was never smart to get upset at getting taunted.

She ignored me. "You're the fake, and you'll regret this," she said as she turned around and left.

_Wow, I've never sensed someone so angry before…_

I shook my head to rid myself of the thoughts before facing Naru again. "Hey, Naru, so, what's up? What are we going to do today?" I asked lamely, trying to make the air not so tense.

"Wait, what did you just say?" Naru asked, looking very confused and slightly peeved. _Mission failed._ "Did you just call me Naru?" he said as he stood up to face me.

"Uh, sorry, I…" I answered. _Great, now he knows what I refer to him as…_

"Where did you hear that?" he asked, still looking peeved.

"You mean, you've been called that before?" I started to pat his shoulder nervously while exclaiming, "Of course, that makes sense, I couldn't be the first to come up with something like Naru the Narcissist!"

"Morning everyone, nice to see you all," a voice said from behind us. _That must be the principle… I've only sensed him a few times but I remember… but who's that next to him? A kid?_ "Say hello to John Brown," he continued, stepping away as John Brown bowed.

"Goo' day mates," he said as he bowed. _Uh… that accent…. How do I put it…_ He straightened up and said, "My name's John Brown, and I came from the great outback of Australia. I can't express how excited I am to join you."

…_Hilarious._

Ayako and Monk were having a giggle fit as I covered my mouth to not do the same as my principle said, "Mr. Brown is relatively new to our country so please show him the respect he deserves."

Monk stood up a bit as he laughed while Ayako said through her laughing, "No no let me guess, you're looking for a playground, right?" True, he looked very young.

John looked used to it as he responded, "Well, actually I practice the ancient art of exorcism."

Both Ayako and Monk stopped laughing to evaluate him. _Like a new threat…_

"Only those who have been ordained in the Catholic Church as priests have the ability to conduct exorcisms. You seem young for that," Naru said questioningly.

"Wow, you really know your stuff mate, to be honest I just turned nineteen a few weeks ago, that's why I look so young," John said as he scratched the back of his head.

_He's nineteen? That means he's older than Naru! HA!_

_**BLIND**_

We all were in base, despite Monk and Ayako's apparent distrust in Naru.

"So we have an Australian exorcist, an apostate monk, and a teenage ghost hunter," Ayako said. _And an old shrine maiden, I suddenly feel like I'm in the middle of a bad joke… _"Obviously this bone-headed principle doesn't have much faith in my unique cleansing abilities. Hmph, Just watch, I'll clear this entire place myself," she said as she left the room.

"I'm going to do a walkthrough, see ya later," Monk said as he also left the room. _Walkthrough… to sense the ghost, right?_

"Uh, excuse me, sir?" John asked politely to Naru. _Maybe Naru can take an example from him… doubtful._

"You may do as you wish," Naru said. _Well, duh, he doesn't work for you._

"I mean, I'd really like to work with you on this," John continued. _… Scratch that to a 'yet'._

Suddenly we heard a scream. "That sounds like Ayako!" John said as we rushed to where the scream oriented from.

We rushed over and ended up gathered in front of a door as Ayako banged on it and screamed, "Open up!"

"Stand back!" Monk shouted through the door. "I'm going to kick it down!"

"Hurry up and do it!" she shouted back. Monk then kicked the door down forcefully.

We all gathered in base after that, I having made Ayako sit down for a little bit as she explained what happened.

"I was looking around the classroom. Suddenly the door slammed shut. I tried opening it but it wouldn't budge. There's definitely a spirit here," she explained.

"No, there isn't. I haven't sensed one paranormal being," a voice said from the doorway. I sent my senses out to sense a girl in a kimono. She seemed like Japanese dolls I have sensed in antique shops.

It freaked me out enough to latch onto Naru while exclaiming, "Ghost!"

"Relax Mai, she's human," Naru said as the girl stepped further into the room. "Masako Hara is a spirit medium," he explained.

"Oh, another one?" I said. _Still doesn't explain the kimono…_

"Fantastic, so now they're calling in a TV star?" Monk said snidely.

"This is ridiculous. It's easy to fake results on television. The only reason she gets ratings is because she's pretty and wears that silly kimono," Ayako said. _Well that explains it a bit…_

"Why thank you, I take that as a compliment," Masako said. _Great, two narcissists… Naru's still a bigger one._

"Well, trust me it's not," Ayako said rudely.

Masako ignored her while turning to Naru saying, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think I've had the pleasure of meeting you before."

"Yes, we've never met but your reputation precedes you," Naru answered.

"Right," she answered softly.

"Anyway, there is a haunting here. In my professional opinion, we're dealing with an earth-bound spirit," Ayako said.

… _Huh?_

"I believe it's a residual haunting. A traumatic event must have happened in this building in the past," Monk inputted.

"So you mean like someone was murdered here and they have to spend eternity searching the halls for their killer or something?" I asked. By 'something' I was more or less thinking of exams. This _was_ a school in the past, and exams are pretty traumatic.

"Close, I think the entity is afraid it's going to lose its home, so it's attempting to block the construction," Monk answered back. I noticed Naru playing with a nail.

_One second he's all grown up and next he's playing with a nail… seriously though, isn't that a bit dangerous? You could cut yourself._

Naru then turned to John, asking, "John, what do you think?"

"Well to be honest I'm not sure, but usually a haunting does originate with a ghost or spirit occupying a structure," John answered.

"So it's either a haunting, or fiction and folklore," Naru said. He turned towards me. "Are you listening Mai?" he asked.

"Of course I am what do you take me for?" I said back. _Wait, please don't answer that…_

"These are things you need to learn," He responded.

"Uh…" _Just how long is he going to make me work for him?!_

"Enough talk, I'm getting rid of this thing as soon as I get back," Ayako said as she turned around and left the room. "I don't know how long I can put up with you people," she muttered to herself. _You're not exactly on my 'favorite person' list either…_

Ayako got to the door when Kuroda came in front of her, blocking the path. "I wouldn't be so confident in your abilities. The spirit that haunts this site is incredibly powerful," she said.

"Kuroda," I said. So she came back….

"Move aside," Ayako said as she pushed Kuroda to the side before leaving. I ran over to her as she slid down the wall.

I helped her sit up before she looked at me and said, "The spirit attacked me."

I could almost feel the statement have its effect on everyone.

"It's true," she continued, "I was walking down the hallway when suddenly my hair was yanked back with amazing force. When I tried to flee it started strangling me. 'You're interfering with this site. Leave or die,' is what I heard it say."

"When did this happen?" Naru asked calmly.

"A few minutes ago, in the second floor hallway," she answered.

"That's false, there are no spirits here," Masako interrupted.

"Yes there are! There definitely are. And they're angry," Kuroda responded hotly.

"You said it was the second floor hallway?" Naru asked before turning towards the monitors and typing something in. I could hear the monitors whir, and pretended to watch. _Might as well act like I know what's going on…_

I could faintly hear the recording of opening doors and footsteps as Kuroda apparently walked on screen. I might be blind, but I still know how cameras worked.

I could hear the static from one of the screens. "What just happened, is the camera broken?" I asked. I knew that static wasn't supposed to happen. I had been babysat when I was younger, and they always complained the TV was broken or something whenever I heard static. Usually those were one of the times I saw those white flashes or blobs. Now that I think about it, I also had a lot of different sitters…

"No, but it is quite strange," Naru answered. I turned towards him, slightly confused. He explained (although mostly for my sake, probably), "When a spirit becomes active electronic equipment will often malfunction, but here I am not so sure. Is it, a spirit or EMF interference…"

"It's quite obviously a spirit. Interference doesn't cause someone to be attacked," Kuroda defended. _She seems quite defendant towards this…_

"But Masako said there are no spirits here," I said, trying to figure this out a bit.

"Well let's just say I'm a little skeptical, about her," Kuroda said with venom lacing her tone.

"It's common for female mediums to be either exactly right or way off base," Naru said, almost sensing the cat fight waiting in the air. "Even if she can't sense any spirits now doesn't mean the haunting isn't active. If what you say is true, then it's possible that the spirit than inhabits this place is very attuned to your wavelength," he continued.

"Yeah, that's right," Kuroda said, almost shocked that someone was believing her and coming to her defense.

_If that's the case, then all this our fault? She did say that ghost stories attracted spirits… Oh no, did our telling ghost stories about this place actually attract real ghosts?_

_Oh no…_

_**BLIND**_

**And that was the first chapter. I edited here and there, but the only important(ish) part was when Mai thinks back to when she was babysat, static=broken TV or something, and that she often saw white flashes or blobs at these times, and that she had lots of different baby sitters.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Again, in case you ignored the authors note at the bottom of chapter one, the only thing majorly different was that Mai mentioned some stuff about her sitters, go back a chapter and scroll to the bottom if you didn't read it.**

**Thank you to all reviewers and follows and favorites, I love getting e-mails about how my story is doing! Thank you! *bows***

**Enjoy (I faced the wrath of my brother over wifi for this)**

_**BLIND**_

April

Saturday

I was just watching, er, sensing and hearing Ayako give her exorcism. She was so cocky yesterday, yet her weird chant wasn't assuring me. I could not even think that this would work, and it almost seemed like she wasn't sure either, she did say to watch her while she did it.

"What is she doing?" I more or less asked myself.

"Have you never heard of noruto?" Naru said from my left.

"No, what's that?" I asked.

"They're just Shinto incantations," Monk said from my right, leaning over John's shoulder, "but I'm starting to wonder if she can even pull this off."

"I've never seen anyone preform a Shinto exorcism before, let's watch," Naru said. I heard Kuroda step from one of the rooms, she seemed very focused on the exorcism, almost anticipating a fault in it.

Ayako just continued her weird chanting, waving the stick with paper on it around. Is this seriously going to work? All I could tell from my sensing of the paper was that it was rather thin, and well taken care of. _Not a single fault… _I thought to myself.

"That's it," Ayako said, finally done, "now you'll have nothing to worry about."

"I have to say I'm quite impressed," one of the men said. I couldn't remember which one was which, I wasn't around them enough to really distinguish the two, one was the principle and the other was the vice principle I think, they both wore suits so I had nothing to go on.

Nor did I actually care.

"It was presented beautifully, thank you so much," the other said. If beauty of presentation had anything to do with the supernatural being taken care of then Monk was a four-foot fifteen-year-old girl. I knew ghost stories enough to know that for sure.

"What would you say to a party tonight in your honor?" one of them said.

"I can't, I must stay here for the next twelve hours to keep an eye on things," Ayako said, turning down the invitation.

"Of course, I understand, you're a true professional. Maybe we could meet up for lunch sometime," the man offered instead. The three walked to the front doors while Monk yawned.

"She's finally done," Monk exclaimed while stretching. This caused me to yawn and we started to turn to go to base. As Ayako and the men were about at the door, though, I heard and felt one of the glass panes break.

They gasped as more cracks could be heard. We turned back surprised before suddenly all the glass burst inside and towards the three adults. They shrieked before falling to the ground to try to cover themselves from the glass. We ran towards them to check what happened, John and Monk going to check on the three while Naru and I stayed back.

"Hey, are you alright?" Monk said as his feet crushed glass.

"This man is bleeding!" I heard John call.

"Oh no, looks like he is too," I heard Monk call, "What about you Ayako?"

"I'm alright," Ayako said calmly, albeit a bit shaken. I could sense that she hadn't had any glass cut her, luckily.

"Are you okay sir?" Monk called to one of the men.

"Yes I'll be fine," he called shakily.

"Can you stand?" Monk said, helping the man up.

_What is going on here? _I thought as I hoped for their safety.

The ambulance soon arrived, taking both the men to the hospital. "I thought you said there would be nothing to worry about now," Kuroda said snidely, "Looks like your little exorcism didn't work. Your failure just sent the principle to the hospital."

Ayako tensed up before Masako interrupted by saying, "That was a simple accident."

"Thank you, I thought I did my job very well," Ayako said turning towards Masako.

"I'm not saying your exorcism worked, it couldn't have because there was no spirits here to begin with," Masako said calmly again.

"Yes there are! I was nearly killed by one of them earlier today!" Kuroda shouted at her.

The boys and I started heading to the monitors (stupid things, can't see anything on them), John commenting, "Maybe it was a coincidence."

"Or there's something here, something too strong for Ayako to drive away," Monk said thoughtfully. I THOUGHT YOU DIDN'T BELIEVE SHE COULD DO IT FIVE MINUTES AGO!? Pick as side, sheesh.

"If that were the case then there would be more conclusive readings on my equipment," Naru said.

I turned to the monitors to think. _Sigh, I wish I could sense some of these spirits. I mean, if I'm the one who brought them here I would also like to be the one to drive them out._

Suddenly a light shone on me. _What the… I'm blind, so what's happening… there is NO FREAKING WAY my wish came true THAT quickly… is it another one of those weird light hallucinations I sometimes have?_

My eyes adjusted slightly to this, and it took a moment but I started to figure out what was wrong with the picture I was somehow shown. It was a monitor, I think. _Hey, wait a second… none of the cameras had a chair in front of it…_

"Hey, that room didn't have a chair in the middle of it yesterday, did it?" I said slightly unsure, bringing everyone's attention to the monitors.

"That's one of the classrooms on the second floor," Naru commented. I remembered all the classrooms on the second floor, and not a single one had a chair in front of it.

My vision went completely dark again, so I turned to Naru and said, "Mm-hm, I set the camera in there yesterday just like you told me to. I swear, it wasn't there."

"Houshou, have you seen anyone go inside that classroom?" Naru asked.

"No," he responded.

"Me neither," John echoed.

Naru turned his head down in thought before pressing a button. I could hear a winding sound so I turned my head to try to sense better what he was doing. Even though I can sense things well enough at a distance, the closer it is the easier to sense. The sound stopped and I could hear the audio play from after Ayako's exorcism before turning my head to the monitor that had lit up again. I could hear when the glass exploded and watched as the chair moved across the floor. It was… creepy, to say the least. It caused us (us being Monk, John, and myself) to gasp, although I was more surprised at the 'seeing things light up and chairs move when I've been blind since I was little' aspect of the whole thing. The vision faded away as soon as it came.

"Was that a ghost?" I asked.

"It looks to me like a poltergeist," Kuroda said calmly.

"A poltergeist?" I asked. _Is that German?_

"It's a German word dating back four centuries that means 'noisy ghost'," Kuroda answered, pushing her glasses up as she continued, "They're manifestations that can influence and move objects at will."

Naru stepped back from the computers and answered back. "That is correct, but I don't think that's what we're dealing with," he said, "Quite often objects that are manipulated by a poltergeist will feel warm to the touch." _Warm to the touch? _"If we look at our thermographic image, we can see the chair is not radiating heat."

"But don't forget Tisane's criteria," John interjected.

"Who's that?" I asked curiously, turning towards John.

"E. Tisane," Naru began, "He was a French policeman who was the first one to classify poltergeists-throwing objects, strange noises, fires, doors closing by themselves, and so on. There are nine different criteria in all, and so far we've seen a number of them at this site. We have doors closing on their own, inanimate objects moving, and glass breaking, which makes up three of the nine criteria."

"But what about Kuroda getting attacked?" I asked. She was my classmate-and hopefully my friend. Or at least, not one of my enemies.

"I'm afraid it was just her imagination," said Masako.

"Stop playing games with me!" Kuroda answered snappily. "Why can't you admit this place is haunted?" she asked as Masako made her way out of the room.

She turned back to the room slightly at the doorway, saying, "Alright then, I'll try once more. I will sense them if there are any spirits here," before leaving base.

"If we truly are dealing with a spirit here, and Masako can't sense it, that would be quite a shock," John said as soon as she was out of earshot.

"There's no evidence suggesting there is one," Naru replied calmly.

I turned towards him, contemplating him again. _Why is he sticking up for her? Oh, I get it, even Naru's a sucker for a pretty face._

"You're just a sucker for a pretty face," I heard a voice say. _Who…?_ "Why else would you be sticking up for her?" Kuroda said. _Wow, I didn't say that out loud, did I?_

"I'm quite familiar with Miss Hara's work," Naru answered calmly. "I firmly believe she's one of the best in her field. All I'm doing is giving her the respect she deserves."

"I'm much more talented than she is and I'm not getting nearly that level of respect," Ayako said hotly back. _Well, so far, you and your powers are equal to that of a tree…_

"What is it about you that I should hold in such high regard, because I'm drawing a blank," Naru said back.

"What did you just say?!"Ayako yelled. She probably would have continued if we hadn't started hearing creaking noises above us.

We looked at the ceiling and waited, I trying to sense if there was any wood snapping over head of us.

"Creaking noises," Monk said in slight awe.

"Don't ghosts make sounds like that?" I said in slight hysteria.

The creaking noises got louder, and suddenly we all heard a scream.

"It's Masako! Someone call an ambulance!" John said as he looked at some of the screens. _Guess it was caught on tape…._

Soon the ambulance arrived to take Masako away.

She had fallen from the second floor.

_**BLIND**_

POV Naru

"The portion of the eastern wall that had been demolished was boarded up with weak plywood and was by no means structurally sound. She must have leaned on it, causing it to break underneath her weight," I explained. "Ms. Hara herself said that it was an accident, she told me as she was on the stretcher that she was being careless, and that there are no spirits inside."

"We can't deny it anymore," Ayako responded, "there's obviously a force here."

"Oh, are you referring to the one you failed to exorcise?" Monk intervened. Ayako huffed in annoyance and turned her head. "We're playing with fire. An unsuccessfully exorcised spirit is like a wounded bear."

"So, what happened to Masako was Ayako's fault," Mai commented,

"Oh please," Ayako responded.

"Listen," I said, stopping the bickering, "from what I saw on the video it was just an accident."

Mai responded quickly with, "But accidents keep happening here, that's why they say this place is haunted!" while she looked at me, waiting for something.

"That may be true," I said.

She seemed surprised as I turned to look at her, trying to figure her out. She had looked straight at a wall of monitors shining brightly before noticing the screen with the chair. Supposedly she was watching them for about 45 minutes. She can't be THAT stupid, can she? So naturally I was more crazed than ever to figure her out. I hated unsolved puzzles more than anything.

"But there is simply not enough readings on the equipment to prove it. There aren't any temperature fluctuations, no ionic polarization, and the EMF readings are normal, the proof just isn't there." Not that she probably even knew what that meant-she even set the thermostats to tell her the temperature out loud, or rather, she had me do it, somehow.

"But, Ayako was trapped in that room!" Kuroda yelled. _At least she let go of being attacked_. "And I was attacked upstairs!" _Thought too soon._ "Something also moved the chair, broke the glass, and erased the video!"

"Like I said I'm still not convinced," I responded.

"Maybe we're dealing with a highly intelligent spirit that knows how to hide from your machines," Monk suggested.

I looked up again before responding, listening to the machines whir. _There's no way that a ghost could be that intelligent, except perhaps me and Gene…. _"What do you really think?" I asked.

"I still believe that it's a residual haunting," he responded honestly.

I turned towards John. "And you, John?" I asked.

"Well, I'm not sure, but I do agree it's become quite dangerous here," he responded.

"Now, tell us what you're thinking," Monk asked me.

"I'll hold off on my opinion for now," I responded, "I'd like to investigate this from a slightly different angle." I then left the room, going off to investigate a hunch.

_**BLIND**_

POV Mai

"So what do you think about this guy?" Monk said as Naru left without any indication on what he was about to go do. "He knows how to put on a show with all this equipment but I'm not convinced the boy wonder knows what he's doing."

_With how much work he makes me do, he better actually be the real deal. But still… where is he going? And what am I supposed to do? I'm only his little blind employee… not that he knows I'm blind…_

"Let's get started," John said as he prepared to do his exorcism upstairs while we were left at base. I stared at the monitors to look like I knew what I was doing, but I honestly had almost no clue what was going on.

"The teenage exorcist finally makes his appearance," Monk commented as I listened to the microphone to listen to John's exorcism.

"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name," I heard John say over the speakers along with something splashing.

"Is that water?" I asked myself.

"Holy water," Monk simply responded.

I heard some pages being turned before hearing John continue with, "In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God," before hearing similar snapping sounds from earlier today. _What? _

"More strange noises," Kuroda commented.

"Wait, turn up the volume," Monk said. I reached over to where I know the sound was and turned up the audio of John's praying. I heard more snapping noises. _Wait, this happened before Masako's accident… Could he also be leaning against something?_ I continued listening to John's prayer. _He wouldn't lean on something after Masako's accident… Could the ceiling not be structurally sound as well, set off by Masako earlier?!_

"The ceiling," I said out loud before it sank in. I had to get John out of there!

I ran off as I heard Monk shout out, "Hey, where are you going!"

I ignored him as I ran. _I hope I can get there in time!_

I burst into the room I figured John was in due to how loud his voice was. "Look out!" I yelled as he stopped his prayers and looked at me.

"Mai!" John said.

"Move it!" I responded. _This situation is too similar, what caused my blindness, _I thought as I sensed the room. "The ceiling's falling!"

"What..?!" John said looking up.

"John!" I shouted as it began to fall down. "JOHN!" I shouted as the rumble blocked my senses, preventing me from locating him, even though my senses were on hyper-drive again.

_**BLIND**_

"I don't believe this," Monk said as the group looked around the room at the pieces of the ceiling.

"If Mai hadn't acted so quickly, I could have easily been injured or even killed," John stated. He had jumped to the edge of the room, dodging the ceiling by inches.

"In the interest of safety I think we should call it for the night," Naru said as he looked at the room again, only looking at the parts that he pointed to with a flashlight. _Is it dark already?_ "Mai, you're dismissed."

"Really?" I responded, I still expected him to work me no matter the hour.

"Yes," was his simple response.

"Alright, I guess I'll be back bright and early, while there's still life there's still hope," Ayako said dismissively.

"Just admit it and say you're scared," Monk said. I had to admit, if even Naru was dismissing me early, and not early in the morning, then you might as well say you're scared. Although Ayako simply huffed at him before turning away to leave. Monk followed after her as she left the building, not saying word.

"Well seeing as I nearly lost my head a minute ago, I think I'll take your advice and retire for the evening," John said mainly to Naru before also heading out.

"You leaving?" I asked Naru, who was still looking around. _… This is too much fun, seeing things in the dark is my specialty, but you don't know that so you won't ask…._

"Not yet, there are a few more things I want to investigate," Naru said, back facing us while he inspected the room.

"Well, just try to be careful, okay?" I said. Even if he's slightly infuriating doesn't mean that I want him hurt or anything,

…But of course, a piece of wood was more interesting to him. He continued looking around, ignoring our presence.

_Sometimes, his face is too smooth, too hard to read for emotions, I almost want to punch him so he can have a new feature-the raised skin of a bruise. I suppose given enough time I could decipher his face, but… I don't know how long I can stand this guy and his superiority…_

Kuroda stood by me for a while before we both left and went home.

_**BLIND**_

Sunday

I walked up to the van, figuring he was probably there.

It was there I found him sleeping in the back, his coat covering him like a blanket.

_He's asleep?! Wait, he sleeps?!_

"Naru?" I said to try to get his attention. "Did you sleep here last night? That can't be good for you."

He sifted around, waking up before responding very drowsily-which was sort of funny-, saying, "Hey Mai, what are you doing here at this hour?" while sitting up more and grabbing his head.

"Uh…" I said. _Man, he's barely even gotten a wink of sleep and he's still the same way he always is-supposedly gorgeous. Though some of the girls at school would kill for this…._ "At this hour? It's almost time for lunch, Naru!"

"Morning!" I heard Monk call. He, Ayako, and John apparently arrived together. _Hey Ayako, what happened to bright and early?_ "Looks like someone had a rough night."

"Looks to me like someone's trying to leave early," Ayako said. _I dare you to say anything about 'early' right now, late priestess!_

"You're right," Naru responded, all sleep gone from his tone, although he still didn't get up.

"So you're finally admitting your 'expert' opinion is totally wrong?" Ayako said accusingly. She still doesn't like Naru or me, does she?

"Is that true?" John asked, always the one to want to know the truth.

"No, I'm leaving because I already solved the case," Naru responded.

"Huh?" I smartly commented, did he really already solve it?

"So you cleaned that schoolhouse, by yourself?" Monk asked, disbelief practically coming off in waves off him.

"No, I didn't do that, there was no need to," Naru responded simply. _What do you mean? Isn't the place haunted and the spirit dangerous?_

Monk's muscles tensed then relaxed, showing that he wasn't following. "What are you talking about!?" he asked, confirming what I knew.

"What did you do?" I asked, looking towards Naru as he typed on a laptop. _… Great, more screens…_

"Last night I compiled all of my experiments," he answered, "These are some surveying results." He turned the screen towards us. _… Lot of help that does me… _He continued audibly, thankfully, saying, "The schoolhouse is sinking. In fact, it sank point 2 inches just last night."

"It what?" Monk said, obviously shocked.

Naru faced the group before continuing, "It's called land subsidence."

"Yeah, so what? You think subsidence is to blame for the phenomenon we've experienced?" Ayako said, testing Naru, again.

"This entire area is built upon reclaimed swampland," Naru stated, trusting his facts. "When I looked into the distribution of wells that were once at use, I discovered a large aquifer that passed underneath the schoolhouse, but when I checked the wells that are in the immediate area, I found them all to be dry."

"Which means…" I said.

"The soil here was weak to begin with, and since the water is dried up there's a hallowing affect happening underground, so naturally the structure above it will be sinking," he explained. _…He's much easier to deal with when he doesn't really seem to grasp all that's going on like he is now, his face says that he's really relaxed, and could just fall back asleep, which he won't, naturally, but still. He hasn't yet seemed bothered at explaining all this to us._

"You're saying the glass, the chair moving, and the ceiling collapsing, are all due to subsidence?" Monk asked, still not convinced.

"Yes, the floor in the classroom on the eastern side of the building where the ceiling collapsed was three inches lower than on the west side," Naru explained.

"Three inches?" I thought to myself, contemplating on checking to see if my senses could tell that it was slanted.

"Sounds like structural failure to me," Monk said, looking at Ayako to see what she would say.

"But what about the strange noises?" Ayako said. She really was making sure there were no gaps in the theory.

"Probably the sound of the wood shifting," Naru said, closing the laptop, "We should have the surrounding area declared off-limits," he said as he stood up and looked at the schoolhouse. "It's so structurally unsound it might come down any day now."

_**BLIND**_

POV Naru

We ended up at base where Mai and I started packing his equipment as the others watched. Soon it seemed more like she figured she was more in the way than anything else, and stood off to the side with the others.

"I knew it!" Kuroda said when she found out about my explanation. "You can't explain what attacked me, can you?" _She's still convinced? Or is she just trying to defend place that seemingly proves her 'abilities'?_

"If what you claim really did occur, then perhaps it's the work of a floating specter that's following you," I said, doubt most likely evident in my tone, most likely due to a lack of sleep and a lack of caffeine- delivered via tea. I haven't had much decent tea lately, and Lin mostly makes Chinese tea, which isn't to my taste.

She looked at me before responding, think up what to say. "Just listen! I'm not making this up!" she said. _Does she completely believe that?_

"Are you leaving?" Mai asked, seeming like she wasn't sure. Even from several feet away it still seemed like she was able to completely analyze my every move, it almost seemed worse when she was looking at something else. That, on top of everything else, made me sort of glad that I had figured out the case and could leave and then think clearly. But even then, I'm not sure I'll be able to leave the mystery of Mai Taniyama alone. "Well?" she prompted when I didn't answer.

"Yes, the job's done," I answered her as I put more wires into one of the boxes. The job may be done, but I felt as if this would not be the last time I saw this group or the old schoolhouse.

_**BLIND**_

POV Mai

:Right," I answered, my fingers starting to play through my hair in nervousness. "I guess it is huh?"

_Weird, I get the feeling like we're not done here yet… _I thought. Actually, the feeling was more like my gut screaming 'Oi, narcissist, if you can hear me, DON'T LEAVE.'

"There is a spirit here, I know it," Kuroda said, her expression a bit complex. Almost… disbelief and then believing again.

"You're wrong, I have scientific evidence to back up my claim," Naru said. I could almost hear his patience with her starting to snap.

"Did you ever consider that maybe the spirit is avoiding your tests?" she yelled back.

_Snap. There goes Naru's patience, which has been used towards me being an amateur and dealing with Kuroda and the rest of the group._

"Then exorcise it yourself, that should be easy for someone with your skills," Naru said. Kuroda glared back while Naru turned back towards the other side of the room with the rest of the equipment. "There's nothing more for me to investigate here so I'm leaving, end of story," he replied. He seemed to be a bit calmer now that Kuroda seemed to have run out of comebacks.

"Oh, well, I guess my dream's over now," I said, hoping to clear the air a bit as well as get my feelings off my chest. Ah, but wait, crap, I even got Naru's attention as well. "I mean, here we are in an old building that's so creepy you just assume it was haunted. Not to mention all the ghost stories I've heard about it. It's kind of… romantic, in a way. Now I don't like the idea of people dying here, but the ghost stories really gave this place a sense of mystery and fun," I said. _Aaand I got sentimental again._

"Maybe so," was the simple answer given by Naru-the person I'd think was least likely to answer.

Suddenly we heard glass cracking. The panes right next to Kuroda were cracking. Kuroda, who had figured what would happen next due to Ayako's experience, ducked while the rest of us got ready for action.

She screamed as the glass fell, but seemed to be alright. "Kuroda!" I yelled, hoping she would not be too disoriented by the sudden turn in events and would be able to locate us over here. It seemed to have worked. She looked over towards us, uninjured but shaken. I sensed closer at her and saw, yes saw, not sensed, what looked to be faint jagged lines coming out of her. Banging noises began to be heard, not creaking, but straight up banging noises on the walls around us. I turned towards what seemed to be the locations of the bangs, and all the places had the faint line coming from Kuroda to the source of the noise.

Kuroda held her head, trying to block it all out, she was scared, really scared. _But those faint lines, are they targeted specifically towards her?_

"What's going on?" Ayako said, seeming to voice everyone's thoughts.

"Well it's more than just the place sinking!" Monk said. I was just disoriented, I was blind, but was seeing weird jagged lines everywhere, no one else seemed to know what was going on, my senses where being no help on this whatsoever, and no one was being considerably helpful in figuring out what was going on. I suddenly felt very much like a little scared blind girl who suddenly can only see in her nightmares.

"Knocking sounds, that's another one of Tisane's criteria!" John yelled over the noise.

"Well?!" I yelled, hoping for an explanation from anyone, but facing towards Naru. He usually knew, but his face showed complete disbelief, seeming to be stuck on one thought. "Naru?" I asked, trying to bring him back to the current situation. We don't need him zoning out now! He seemed to hear me, but looked at the door, I turned towards it to send my senses to it, my senses seeming to be unfocused and caused me to have to turn towards the thing I was trying to 'see'. The doors were banging back and forth on their tracks violently. _Crap! How are we supposed to get out?!_

"We need to get out of here, now!" Monk yelled.

Naru seemed to snap out of whatever it was he was in and yelled, "This is it! Everybody, out! GO, Mai!"

"But what about the doors?" I yelled back, turning my attention to Naru, who looked ready to run like hell was at his heels.

"Leave that to me!" yelled Monk as he threw a chair at the remaining wood that had held the panes that had broken not even a minute before. "Over here, this way!" he yelled as everyone followed him out.

_**BLIND**_

We stood in front of the building again.

"Are you okay, Kuroda?" I asked as I sensed her hand bleeding. My senses were a bit numb so it took me a minute to process that the weird slimy-wracking feeling going over my brain was blood. Although thankfully there wasn't any of those jagged lines anymore. _Isn't lightning supposed to be jagged lines? So did I see electricity going around causing it? But if that was the case, wouldn't we all be electrocuted?_

"You're bleeding, let me see your hand," Ayako said, gently taking Kuroda's hand. "It's okay, cut's not too deep," she told her.

Monk looked at us then towards Naru, who was staring at the building. Then Monk started yelling, "What was that? And don't try to feed me that sinking theory again. That was a full-on poltergeist wasn't it?!"

Ayako tied up Kuroda's hand in a handkerchief before also turning towards Naru. "That sound wasn't just the creaking of an old building, something was definitely banging on the walls," she said defiantly.

John calmly turned to talk as well, seeming to be the calm one of the group. "That means we've already witnessed four of the nine criteria that were laid out by Tisane," he said, still wanting to work with Naru, not against him, it seemed.

"That just goes to show that you can't depend too much on technology," Ayako said spitefully. "For a minute there I was actually going to believe you and your phony results."

"Stick around, Naru, and you'll see how the true professionals do things," Monk said, still showing animosity towards Naru. I was too shaken up to really want to deal with them right now.

"Maybe it's time someone went back to school," Ayako said as she and Monk left the scene.

"What's with them? I haven't seen them do anything productive!" I said before turning towards Naru, sensing over him for injures. _Wouldn't suppose Ayako would help him too if he got hurt…?_ I sensed blood again, and sensed for the source. It was his hand, and it didn't seem to be too good. "Your hand, it's…" I trailed off.

"It's nothing serious," he said, holding it up as if to make a point. "It's just a scratch."

"But…" I responded. It still should be treated, and I'm pretty sure it was more than 'just a scratch'.

"I will be fine," he said his tone seeming to be pissed off, although it didn't seem to be aimed towards me. "You should just tend to Kuroda."

"Naru…" I said, still wanting to help.

"I'd appreciate it," he stated, harshly at first, "if you left me alone for a little while." He was trying not to misdirect his anger at me. "I'm so mad at myself I could throw up!"

"…fine," I responded, I figured he probably was blaming himself for getting us in danger… Or at least me, considering I was forcibly his assistant. He walked off, or more of sulked off, going who knows where to cool down for a bit. I watched him go, hoping he'd be okay after a bit and come back. Even Kuroda looked up as he rounded the corner, They may have not gotten along, but she was still concerned.

It was a few hours later-supposedly after dark as all the light switches were turned upwards, indicating 'on'-before my senses were not either numb or on hyper-drive and I could effectively move around without creating a hazard. I did notice, though, that while my senses were on hyper-drive as it tried to balance itself, that the building was sort of tilted, just barely, but it was still a difference.

"You're not going to watch the monk's attempt with the rest of us?" Ayako cooed as I walked into base.

"No, I'm not!" I yelled. I was tired of all these 'exorcisms', none of them were working if there is a spirit here.

"Hey, what's up Mai?" John asked as he walked up with some wires. I looked up-I thought he would watch the exorcism. "Do you mind if I give you a hand?"

"Oh. I'm okay, I'm just taking a few things out," I responded. I doubted Naru wanted this stuff to be laying around.

"Then please, allow me to help you, I insist," John replied as he grabbed a microphone on the table.

"Really, I'd rather do it myself," I responded. I was used to having to deal with things myself, I didn't want to stop now.

John faced towards me, his face seeming a bit distraught.

"You're still buying your boss's explanation?" Ayako asked from the doorway with Monk right beside her.

I glowered at the two of them-aren't they supposed to be somewhere else in the building, trying to exorcize whatever is here? "Do you have any proof that he's wrong?! If so then let's hear it, I'm all ears over here," I shouted back.

Ayako glared at me-I could easily tell a glare even if blind-while the air got tense. "Easy now," John said, trying to calm us down.

Shortly after Monk started his exorcism… which seemed to consist of gibberish chanting 'ban' and 'kan' every other syllable. _How in the world is chanting that gibberish supposed to get rid of evil spirits?_ I thought to myself as I carried another microphone out of the room-I had let John help me, and was honestly a bit thankful not to carry it all out alone.

_Geez, Naru, stop pouting and get back here so you can tell these idiots what's up! I don't know if I can take much more of this! Lucky him, he gets to skip out on dealing with them for the night._

John and I had decided to also set a few things up around the schoolhouse, in case something significant happened at least we'll have proof.

"I just set the microphone up on the second floor," John said as he walked down the stairs.

"Thank you," I said, "but you know I could do this stuff myself, right?" Even I, a blind girl, know how to set up a microphone-especially with Naru teaching you to do it. In other words, you don't want him 'teaching' you twice.

"Oh, no worries mate," John said, dismissing the action. "Anyway, I'm going to look around a bit, see if I can't find some more clues."

"Oh, well, be careful," I said as he walked off. _I think I've made the right decision to wait here for Naru, but should I even expect him to come back?_

I was interrupted from my thoughts as I started to hear footsteps down the hall. "Naru?" I yelled behind me, but instead I sensed Kuroda standing there. "Oh, hi Kuroda," I said. I was hoping he'd be back.

"Any news?" she asked me.

"Uh, right, the monk and the others are making their rounds right now," I answered.

"What about Kazuya?" she continued.

"I don't know where he is," I said with a shrug. "Aw man, are there really any spirits here?" I asked myself.

"Yes, I saw them," Kuroda said, still holding firm to that.

"Oh, I know, you've made that clear," I responded, remembering that she was there.

"They're not here anymore," Ayako said from behind us. We turned towards her and she continued, "The expulsion was a success."

"Yeah, we've all heard that one before," I replied. What was so different this time than last time she did an exorcism?

"Well, this time I'm sure of it," Ayako said, obviously taken back by my response.

"They're still here," Kuroda said, grabbing both my and Ayako's attentions. "I can feel them, in fact there are many spirits trapped here," she continued. She is starting to sound like a broken record.

"Are you still pretending?" Ayako said snidely. "Give it a rest, we're the professionals here." _She does realize I'm not a professional either, right?_

"Unless I'm mistaken you haven't done anything," Kuroda defended.

"We're good now," Monk said as he and John walked towards the rest of us. "Ayako's attempt may have been a complete failure but mine wasn't."

"Excuse me?" Ayako shouted back.

"Well, it is true, isn't it?" Monk prodded.

"Don't take credit for my work!" she yelled.

"Same to you," was the calm response.

"Get over yourself!" she yelled at him again.

"Would you shut up!" I yelled.

"Shh," John said quietly. "I hear something."

We all quieted down and listened-and heard footsteps on the floor above us.

"Someone's here," Ayako whispered as we stared-or sensed, in my case-the ceiling.

"I know," Monk said like it was obvious-which it sort of was.

We continued listening as the footsteps came closer overhead and started down the started down the staircase. I noticed that the little lightning thing from before was back, and was once again connected to Kuroda.

Monk ran towards the stairs as the footsteps grew closer and closer.

"Are you nuts?" I said as he ran past me. If it was a ghost then shouldn't you run away from it, not towards it?

He ignored me and disappeared around the stairwell as the stairs turned. Ayako stood near me as all of us waited for Monk to come back or to say something.

"Do you see anybody?" I yelled up at him.

"Nope, must've imagined it," Monk yelled back.

"That's crazy; all of us?" I yelled again as he heard him walk down the stairs. "I definitely heard something! You heard it too, right Monk?"

"It was just the wind," Ayako tried to sell us.

"I am sick of this!" I yelled. There is no way that was the wind! "You didn't get rid of them either, did you?! After what you said to Naru this makes you look so stupid! I don't remember Naru coming up with any lame excuses, do you?! Funny how the adults are acting like chil-" _BANG!_ I was interrupted from my ranting.

The banging noises from earlier started again. "It's back!" John exclaimed. More lightning all around, only it was everywhere, and seemed more violent than before.

The lights broke, sending glass raining from the ceiling.

"This is the most activity we've seen yet!" John said as we dodged the glass.

"It sounds like there's more than one!" Monk shouted as we looked-or again in my case, sensed-around the hallway, trying to find a source. I kept ending up looking at Kuroda and the faint lightning streaks. "It's too dangerous in here, let's get outside!"

"I'm right behind you," I yelled, then turned towards Kuroda. "Come on Kuroda, follow me!" I yelled as we ran and dodged wood falling from the ceiling.

"Right!" she yelled back as we ran.

The shoe lockers started shaking and swaying dangerously as we ran past. We were almost out of the building when the shoe locker right next to me began to fall towards me. I screamed as I put my arms in front of me as it fell on me. _Warm…._

"MAI!" I heard Monk yell. My senses blurred up on me.

At that point, I lost consciousness.

_**BLIND**_

**Hope you enjoyed. I recently read a fanfic that had a blind character that sensed things sort of like how Mai does-man was I HAPPY!**

**It was posted before this fic, and it was some sort of shaman…? But anyway, it's done, enjoy, and tell me what you think I could improve on or add into this story.**

**-*yes, Gene will be included in some way, shape, or form, he sort of has to…*-**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thanks to the reviewers, favorites, and followers! Could not do this without you!**

**Forgot it last chapter, but I don't own Ghost Hunt. This site is called FANfiction .net, why the heck would we need a disclaimer, it's pretty obvious original authors wouldn't put their works on a fanfiction site, they'd just publish the new story. Unless they felt the need to troll on everyone, in which case, they can rightfully say 'I own this and there's nothing you can do about it'.**

**Just saying.**

**Oh, and a series of unfortunate events prevented me from updating. Stupid laptop chargers… and hospitals… bleh. And older brothers… and my bloody terrible luck… Not to mention school or broken clay owls… It's been a long few weeks for me.**

**And have you ever typed with a cast on not only your arm, but on your finger too?**

**PS-anyone else think that the Ghost Hunt opening is waaay too long? You could make and eat a 5 course meal in that time.**

_**BLIND**_

POV Mai

I remember once being told that I could affect the dead and the living. I never figured out the 'affect the dead' part of the story, but it was what got me started on ghost stories when I tried to figure it out. As for the affecting the living part, I just figured I had a good personality or something.

Currently, I figured I was somewhere in between 'living' and 'dead'.

I felt… warm. But yet, cold. I felt stiff yet relaxed. Comfortable yet not. I supposed that this was a sort of karma, too. I had almost gotten hit by the shoe racks earlier, but Naru's actual assistant pushed me out of the way and kept me from being injured while getting hurt himself. And now, I was quite possibly dead for the exact same reason, a shoe rack fell on me.

I could feel a hand lay itself on my forehead, and opened my eyes. I could see lights, lots of lights. It didn't surprise me, I often could see rather clearly in my dreams. I turned my head to look at the person whose hand was still on my forehead and saw… A boy?

_Who…. Are you? _I tiredly thought, my mind's voice seeming to echo in my own head.

"Hello?" I said to the boy as he smiled at me kindly at me with gentle eyes.

"Hello," he said back as I closed my eyes again tiredly.

I snapped my eyes open again. His voice sounded almost exactly like Naru's… and due to reflexes immediately started talking about what had happened in Naru's absence.

"After you left the poltergeist came back worse than it was before! " I said, sitting up. "Oh wait, you're not Naru, sorry…"

"It's okay," he said softly back.

"Ah so, who are you?" I asked as I held my head, a headache seeming to be coming on. A lot has happened today, no wonder why I got one. I guess it confirms that I'm not dead, not yet at least. That, or the afterlife can hurt you just as much as real life.

"Go back to sleep," he said softly, ignoring my question as he pushed me down gently.

"You avoided my question," I said while I looked up at the boy again. I felt really drowsy again. He just lowered his eyes a bit, as if also a bit tired. "You should probably get some sleep…" I droned off as I fell back to sleep.

_**BLIND**_

Monday

Day 5

"Mai, wake up!" I heard someone say. It sounded like Monk, but it was like I was hearing through a haze of some sort.

I felt my eyes open almost immediately to the same darkness that usually surrounded me. My senses started to make out Ayako, Monk, and John standing by me while I heard John say, "I think she's gonna be okay guys," to the other two. I was in the back of the van, much like Naru was earlier.

"Hey Mai how do you feel?" Monk asked me.

"Boy, we were really worried there for a minute," Ayako said before I could say anything.

'I'm sorry," I said softly.

"You were out for quite a while there, it's already four o'clock in the morning," Monk informed me.

"Did Naru ever come back?" I asked them. Maybe I _had _heard his voice in my dream and I just thought it was some random smiling dream boy. Even though part of me said that that wasn't the case, I had to be sure.

"Nope," Monk said, dashing that theory away quick. _Then it was just a dream. I should've known better. There's no way Naru would smile like that, and besides, I have never actually seen him, how could I have dreamt of him if I've never seen him?_

I stood up from where I was sitting in the van. "Where's Kuroda?" I asked, noting my classmate's absence.

"She went home," said Ayako "…which, come to think of it, isn't entirely a bad idea. Exorcisms have had no effect. It's possible that even our own safety could be compromised."

"So you wanna run away?" I asked.

"Need I remind you that it was your own boss who ran away first?!" Ayako shouted. "He probably went home and cried himself to sleep."

"That is ridiculous!" I countered.

"Well if I were to guess he ran away because of us, we did kinda gang up on him yesterday you know," Monk stated.

"Yes, but remember you're referring to the world's biggest swollen-headed stuck-up self-absorbed holier-than-thou narcissist," I reminded them. There's no way Naru wouldn't brush this off until getting revenge in his own way, and that meant he most certainly _wasn't _crying in bed.

"Maybe Kazuya is at home, stewing with unbridled rage while making straw ethigy dolls of each of us," John said with a completely straight face.

I thought over it a moment, and started laughing at the thought while the rest joined in. _That probably sounds more like him than anything else the other two suggested. _

_But it's such a freakin ridiculous mental image… Naru really will kill if he finds out!_

_**BLIND**_

"Morning!" I said to Keiko and Michiru as I stepped into the classroom.

"Oh my gosh, Mai!" the two girls answered in unison.

"Are you okay?" asked Keiko.

"We heard something happened to you; fill us in on all the details!" Michiru added to Keiko's statement.

"Oh, where did you hear that?" I asked, I don't remember telling anyone that something happened.

"Kuroda told us, she's been bragging to the whole class about it all morning," Keiko said while pointing to Kuroda, who was talking to a bunch of students that stood around her.

"And you'll never guess what happened to us," Michiru commented.

"Kazuya just called us up out of nowhere! We talked for like, ten minutes!" Keiko said happily.

"He called?!" I said as I grabbed onto Keiko's shoulders.

"Yeah, last night," Michiru said curiously.

"Yeah," Keiko confirmed.

"Last night? He's been missing since yesterday afternoon, what did you talk about?!" I asked, my mind on rapid fire.

"Uh, you know, like this and that." Typical Keiko. "He asked us what we knew about the old schoolhouse and stuff."

"He asked us a lot of questions about Kuroda," Michiru added.

_What the heck is Naru up to?_

I walked over to my seat, fuming a little bit.

"Oh, there you are. Kuroda, Mai, you're wanted in the principal's office, a teacher said from the doorway of our classroom.

We both walked down in complete silence, both wondering what this could possibly be about.

"Hello?" I called out as I opened the principal's door.

There, inside the principal's office, stood Naru. He stood in front of window like someone who had been waiting on someone would. He turned towards us as Kuroda and I stepped in.

_Naru?_ The thought finally processed through my head. He was here, and he seemed to be fine. I sent my senses around the room to figure out just what was going on. _And there's Masako. What's everyone doing here?_ I thought as I sensed everyone sitting in an arc in front of the principal's chair except for Naru, who was still standing, and the principal, who sat at his desk. There were two chairs open, supposedly left for Kuroda and me.

"Please take a seat," the principal said to us both.

"Okay, this makes up everyone who's been involved in a case thus far," Naru said as Kuroda sat in the chair at the end of the row and I next to John. "This should only take a few minutes," Naru told us before pulling the curtains together. _Is he trying to make it dark?_ The windows were soon covered, and Naru turned on some sort of weird machine. It gave off a high-pitched whir as it turned on, and all I could tell was it seemed to be a lamp of some sort, only with an overly-large bulb on a skinny bit of metal. Everyone's attention seemed to be on the bulb, either turning their heads or the small bump on the eye where the pupil was located turning towards the lamp. I guessed that the light was on. _What's up with the lamp? This is really strange._

"I'd like everyone to focus on the light," Naru said, his monotone voice seeming a bit gentle but still demanding as he looked around at us, seeming to always come back to me. I looked at the lamp for good gesture, but I was still confused on what exactly we were doing.

"Now control your breathing so it's in sync with the light," Naru continued, his voice now soft. My eyes got to be half-lidded as exhaustion started setting in. Everyone started to get their breathing to be in sync so I got my breathing to be in sync with theirs. "Very slowly, relax your shoulders," he continued in his soft voice. I could tell everyone else was slowly relaxing their shoulders as I was; only they were more… trance-like as they did it. Everyone had half-lidded eyes now too.

"Concentrate on your breathing," Naru said, his voice partially lost to my conscious. _I'm getting really sleepy... maybe it's because of what happened last night. I'm probably just tired. _"Now start counting your breaths. Breathe deep. Nice," he continued again. _He sounds so far away. I'm going to fall asleep soon if he doesn't stop whatever it is he's doing._ "Tonight the chair in the second floor of the old schoolhouse will move," Naru's voice was barely making it through my sleepy haze. _Chair…_ "Tomorrow, we'll all meet in the laboratory," his voice hazily said. _Laboratory… Chair… chair…_

I was just about unconscious when the high-pitched whir stopped and the curtains opened to let what I'm presuming is sunlight in. What really woke me up, though, was Kuroda letting off the faint electric lines again, this time focused on a chair in front of Naru.

"That's all I need. Thank you for your cooperation," Naru said as he still clutched the curtain. Now I definitely want to know what happened. He was saying 'thank you', and I already knew that wasn't a good sign.

'I'm sleepy," Monk complained as he stood up and rubbed his eyes, trying to get the nagging feeling to sleep to go away.

Ayako stood up holding her head while adding, "So am I," to the conversation. Masako then stood up herself while rubbing at her eyes while the rest of us sat there in similar positions. I thought back to right before I had almost-but-not-quite fallen asleep. I had seen something in a dream-like state.

It was the same setting as the dream from last night with the boy.

Only this time, the boy wasn't there. Something else was there instead.

There was a chair.

_**BLIND**_

"Naru!" I shouted down the hallway after I had been dismissed from the office. Naru had left right after he had thanked us for our cooperation (in what, I still didn't understand) without us noticing until the principal let us leave a minute later.

Naru turned his head slightly towards me to indicate he heard but he didn't stop walking nor did he comment. I slowed down as I got right behind him, walking in pace with him. "Where did you go yesterday?" I asked curiously.

"Nowhere special," he said simply before turning his head to look in front of him again. "I heard you got injured."

"Oh, it was no big deal," I commented lightly. Why'd he care, anyway? I was here, I'm not in hospital, I'm obviously fine. "So what was up with that light?"

"Shouldn't you be heading back to class now?" he ignored my question. Typical.

"I'm not too worried about it," I said. I wasn't a complete idiot in my classes, and I knew that the teacher didn't really start teaching until halfway through class anyway, so I had a few minutes to spare.

He turned his head towards me like before and said, "So you're skipping class because you _want _to be stupid?" before turning his head back around and left me behind to glare at him. He was putting his outside shoes back on before I caught up to tell him something.

"Hold on a second, there was something I wanted to ask you," I said when I finally got in close enough to ask him without yelling. "Did you come back last night?" I asked. I still was a bit worried about the dream thing I had.

"To… the school? Uh-uh, why?" Naru answered, facing towards me again.

_Because my subconscious made a body for me to see in my dreams since I can see in my dreams but not in real life. Did I mention I'm blind? _ "Oh, um, uh, no reason. Well, time to get back to class. See ya!" I said as Naru walked away before I had even finished my first 'sentence'. Which, by the way, was more like me babbling than actual words.

I sent my senses towards the door to tell if he really had left in time to sense his retreating figure as the school door closed behind him.

_Just as I suspected. Naru would never smile like that. Oh well, at least I know that is was just a dream now, ehehe! Why do I keep thinking about that? Does that mean…? Oh no. No no no no no. I AM NOT IN LOVE! That's it, next time I see dream-guy I'm giving him a thrashing for being there then making him explain! GAH!_

_**BLIND**_

Later, after school, I walked over to the van again to see if Naru was there. He was, after all, still my boss, whether or not I may-or-maybe-not possibly had a SMALL crush on him. Or, well, my subconscious did. Which is a part of me. I had been in this thinking loop all day and it hadn't been getting me anywhere.

Naru was, in fact, to be found in the back of the van, holding a pair of headphones attached to his laptop over his ears, listening to something. I thought back to the smiling boy in my dreams. Again. It made me feel weird. I hid my face in my hands like Keiko did around who she deemed cute. She said it was because she was slightly embarrassed to be caught by your own self staring at them. I said she was silly. Now I understood.

_What's wrong with me! No matter what I do I can't get it out of my head! I guess that means I'm really… _ I didn't let myself finish the thought as Naru turned towards me, seeming to have finally notice my presence. Just by sensing that he was looking at me made me feel weird again. _Please don't look at me like that! Or at all!_

"Were you the one who set up the microphone on the second floor last night?" Naru asked me, oblivious to my internal struggle with my feelings. Thank everything in the universe for that.

"Yeah. We were taking good video but I thought we should have a mic in there, you know, just in case?" I said, the whole thing coming out sort of like a question.

"Well, you did an excellent job, Mai. We picked up some very interesting noises," he turned his head back to the laptop screen. I stared at him for a moment. Did he just give me a complement without insulting my intelligence? "What's up?" he said casually as he turned towards me while I stared.

"Oh, uh, that was it," I said. Then I remembered something. "Wait! There was one more thing I wanted to mention. You know that shoe rack? The one that fell on top of me? It was warm, and I remember you saying that poltergeists cause things to heat up."

"I'm impressed you remember that," Naru commented.

"Thanks!" I said, finally calmed down. I sensed John down by the street. He noticed me and walked over.

"Good'ay Mai," John greeted. He sounded a bit tired, but he was a part of this case too, and all of us were tired, so I supposed it was understood. At least he showed up, unlike Monk and Ayako. Masako probably still was a bit sore, so she was excused in my book.

"John, I casually greeted back.

Naru looked over at the new arrival and took the headphones off. "Now, let's get started," he said, confusing both John and me.

I get the feeling we just got roped into something…

Knowing Naru, I did.

_**BLIND**_

"Hm… A chair… and a camera. Hey, Naru," I said, curiosity getting the better of me as I left John to setting the camera up. "What are you setting up over there?"

"This," Naru indicated to the thing he was setting up right outside the door of the classroom, "is a radar."

"Wait, I thought they only used those things on airplanes? So why do you have one?" I asked.

"If I told you it wouldn't work," Naru said as if that explained everything.

"But I'm still your assistant, right?" I said.

"Yes," Naru said and held out a hammer towards me. "So take some of that plywood over there and start boarding up all the windows and doors in that room." Suddenly, I regret my last sentence.

I grabbed the hammer and begrudgedly stared at it before getting to work. _What's his problem?!_ I thought as I hammered a board in place. _Does he have to keep me in the dark about every little detail?!_

And then, somehow, Naru got John boarding up the place too. John was sometimes too nice for his own good. All while Naru continued fiddling with the radar or something. I honestly think he just didn't want to put up boards. Jerk. Although, if I were him, I'd probably do the same.

John and I were soon finished and I leaned against the strongest part of the plywood-the part that was nailed onto a support post. "My arms are killing me," I groaned as said limbs throbbed with pain. Naru then held out a marker to both John and me. "What now?" I groaned as I looked at the little marker.

"Both of you, take this, and sign your names on the board."

I groaned again before taking the marker and handing it to John so he could sign first. Naru held another marker out for me. I groaned again.

A while later I got to the last board out of what seemed to be hundreds. "That was the last one. right?" I groaned out. I was seriously tired now, but something told me I wouldn't be able to sleep.

"Now, write your names on this paper. After you're done, you can go home," Naru said after he taped a piece of paper over the two pieces of plywood that covered the door.

"So, I assume there's a point to all this?" I said as I signed the paper.

"You'll find out tomorrow," was he said as he walked away.

"Tomorrow?!" I yelled over my shoulder as John walked up to sign the paper.

"Kazuya knows what he's doing and I trust in his judgment, so maybe we should just sleep on it like he said and find out tomorrow," John said calmly.

"Maybe so, but I'm tired of being left in the dark!" I said.

We walked out after that, and no sign of Naru anywhere.

"So, John, why are you helping Naru so much? It can't just be because you like working," I said as we stepped out to the street.

"Well, to be honest I'm actually helping you," John said as we walked to the gates. I then stopped.

"Helping me?" I asked curiously. Since when have people actually _helped_ me?

"Yes, well, I heard from your principal that you're blind. He didn't mean to say it, but it still slipped out," John said, stopping himself as well.

"Oh, so what, you're helping the blind girl or something?" I frowned. I might appreciate the help, but that doesn't mean I like it when it's just because I'm blind. "I can take care of myself you know."

John once again had the 'kicked puppy' look on his face as he replied, "I'm very sure you can take care of yourself. I would never had guessed that you were blind, Mai, unless I was told. I'm still not entirely sure. Kazuya seems to suspect something though, he watches you, trying to figure you out."

I sighed. "Well, that explains why he keeps staring me down…" I sighed again. I guess it was just in John's nature to help. "Sorry John, it's just that… all my life, it's always been 'Go play with Mai, poor girl' or 'We should go help Mai, she's blind, you know' or something like that. It's just… hard… for me to accept someone else's help I guess," I apologized, "That's why I go here now, to get away from that."

"So you really are blind?" John asked, his facial muscles switching to a curious look now, his head tilting slightly. I swear he's part dog or something.

"Yeah, I'm really blind," I responded, laughing slightly. John didn't seem to take my laughter well.

"How do you run around without running into things?" John asked. I don't blame him for asking, it's not like I was the normal blind girl.

"I'm not entirely sure either. I just sort of… um… sense my surrounding or something? I just know I can read and write like everyone else. It's basically like I can only 'see' black, but I can 'see' shapes, sort of. It's really weird," I scrunched up my nose.

"Can you tell what I look like?" John said. This was starting to feel like twenty questions.

"Yes, I can. You're a bit taller than me, have short and slightly curly hair, a kind face, and you're a bit muscular," I said confidently.

"You can't tell I'm blonde though, can you? Or that I have blue eyes?" John said, his mood getting better by a bit, but still concerned.

"Nope. You're blonde? That's cool! I've never met a blonde. Or at least, that I knew of," I shrugged. "Oh geez, I've got to get home, it's seven!" I realized as I heard the ringing of the clock striking seven. I ran off, throwing a quick 'goodbye' over my shoulder at John as I left.

_**BLIND**_

Tuesday

Day 6

"I didn't get a wink of sleep last night because I couldn't stop thinking about this," I grumbled as I walked towards the old school early in the morning. I was nearing the van when I sensed someone else leaning with one hand on the van and holding a crutch under his arm. His left ankle was injured. Kazuya was on one knee, looking at something on a laptop with the other man. All around him were little white blobs flying around. It was… weird. They were just like the ones I had seen in the old building the first time I came in.

"It's his real assistant…" I then realized. "Oh man, this is going to be super awkward. *Last time he saw me he ended up in the hospital. Uh… ehehe…."

Naru then stood up, seeming to either hear me or something while his assistant looked over his shoulder, his hand which had rested over on the van beforehand had now moved to rest on top of his crutch. His little blob thingies went around me and seemed to examine me. I decided to try to ignore it.

"What are you doing here so early?" Naru asked.

_I could ask the same thing…._

"I couldn't sleep because I had been up all night, thinking about the experiment we set up yesterday," I said, walking up in front of the two.

"You'll have to wait a bit more, everyone will be here soon," Naru said before going back to the computer screen.

"Everyone? Even the monk and Ayako? What for?" I asked curiously. I doubted Ayako would want to be up this early.

He didn't answer. _Smug, as usual._

"Uh," I faced towards his assistant. Wasn't his name Lin or something? "Are you feeling better?" I asked. He just glared at me. I might not be able to actually see someone's eyes, but I could tell when I was being glared at. It didn't help that half his face was still hidden by his thick hair. Or the fact that the blobs that didn't like me stayed by Lin and made a pointed fact (well, in their own way, I suppose) that they didn't like me.

_Hurry up and get here everyone before that guy kills me!_

A little while later everyone was gathered in front of the room John and I boarded up yesterday. Lin -as I figured out later _was _his name- held a small camera in his right hand, his left arm and hand still holding the crutch. The little blobs either stayed by Lin and seemed to hate me or liked me and would brush against my skin. One would always stay near Naru, hovering around like a worried hen around her chick, but Naru didn't seem to notice.

"So what's the plan for today, Naru?" Monk asked from beside Ayako. A blob brushed against him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Yes," Ayako, who also didn't react to the blobs and stood to the right of Lin, continued, "let's hope for your sake you don't embarrass yourself yet again."

Naru ignored her and turned towards John and me. "Now, would you two please confirm that the paper you signed yesterday hasn't been tampered with," Naru told us.

"Yea, okay," I said as we turned to look over. I stood right next to the wall so John had to step closer to check. "Looks good to me, what about you John?" I asked.

"Fine," he responded.

"Alright," Naru said as he picked up a crowbar and fisted it into both hands. I almost think he was about to enjoy whatever it was he was about to do, but his face said nothing. Lin even put his camera down to his side to watch him do this; I guess he knew what was going on. The blobs also all moved out of the way and hid behind Lin.

Naru stuck the crowbar into the small space between the boards in front of the door before swinging the bar back, pulling the panel clear off the wall.

He was, apparently, even stronger than I gave him credit for. Apparently the same was for John, because he backed away too, only where he was staring at the wall, I was staring at Naru, well, where I thought he was. Kuroda stared with a sort of curiosity, Masako looked as if she was calculating the situation, waiting patiently, Monk looked on in silent surprise, his jaw tight, and Ayako had an indescribable blank look on her face.

The entrance was now opened, but Naru just stood there looking in, and so we stepped in, I going in first after the blobs quickly darted in and everyone else following me.

When I could sense it, I gasped.

John, a second later, said "Oh my Lord," as he saw it. "The chair, it's moved!" the chair had moved, by itself, out of the circle of chalk. It now lay on its side by the far wall, little blobs circling around where I guessed it was. But the question was… how did it get there?

"Indeed it has," Naru said as we walked into the room. I'd almost think he was… giddy… about this whole thing. I just stared at the blobs. When they went behind something, even partially, they disappeared completely, I noticed. I guess so I couldn't see the shadows or outlines of other things.

Because that'd totally be unfair for the blind girl. Yep, totally. Note the sarcasm.

"So what exactly does this prove?" Ayako stated as she put her hand up to chin, her other hand naturally cupping onto her elbow.

"Would you care to explain?" Monk voiced out as well. It seemed redundant, but everyone was curious. Well, maybe except Lin.

Naru didn't answer for a moment, simply looking over some equipment before saying, "I'd like to thank you all for your cooperation. I'll be finishing this investigation today."

"Let me get this straight, are you claiming to have solved the case again?" Ayako questioned.

"That's exactly what I'm saying," Naru responded coolly.

"The ground sinking?" I asked. I had noted the difference in height. It took a while, though, my senses usually don't go out that far, so I could have miscalculated.

"Yes, all of the issues that the principal originally brought to my attention can be explained by ground subsidence," Naru explained to me.

"Yeah? Then what about the disturbances we saw the day before yesterday?" Monk glared.

"Now those _were_ from a poltergeist," Naru answered.

"You're not making any sense!" he shouted.

"What else can he do?" Ayako interrupted Monk's questioning. "We all know he can't exorcise it," she shifted her eyes over to Naru, "right?" She said it as a fact, not a question.

"There's no need for exorcisms in this circumstance," Naru didn't even think twice about the insult. Actually, I don't think he even thought about it _once._ "Watch this, and you'll see."

Everyone looked over at the monitor. Suddenly, a dark green glow was visible to me, and I could make out a chair in a circle. _Isn't that the experiment? _

So far, nothing was happenin-

Wait.

Wait just a second.

I can see a dark green square and a chair in the middle of a chalk circle.

I can SEE that.

I'm BLIND.

….

WHHHAAAATTTT!

I then heard rattling over the speakers. I concentrated as best as I could on… seeing… not sensing… whatever it was that was caught on camera. Everyone collectively gasped. I was shocked that I could SEE the chair leg MOVE. I could see faint dark purple lightning again, just like what I had recently started SEEING Kuroda be surrounded by. Everyone else was surprised that it was moving by itself, and that it wasn't just sliding against the ground. It was moving UP and DOWN in the AIR.

The chair continued to rattle before moving back against the far wall, then moving as if being lifted and then dropped on its side. It was then that I realized something else.

The chair in the video was the same chair I had somehow SEEN-oh my gosh I've been able to see random things all week and I'm only now realizing all this?!- in the principal's office.

Then, as soon as it was there, everything was dark again.

I grasped onto Monk. I felt slightly scared. For one, I'd been having… visions… all week, and two, the chair MOVED by ITSELF. Chair moved. Visions. Chaired moved by itself, I was blind and having visions. Is that even supposed to be possible!? And now, the white blobs started moving in front of me, the couple that had liked me brushing against me again.

It felt as if all the stress of this week was deciding to drop itself on me just now. And now, my brain decided to start processing things one at a time.

"What was that!" I asked, referring to the chair that had just moved by itself, and what the hell caused it.

"Well it's obviously a poltergeist," Monk said, letting me cling onto him like a scared cat but not attempting to calm me.

"Humans are to blame for over half of reported poltergeists every year," Naru stated.

"You mean like a prank?" I questioned, starting to calm down some. If I didn't know better, I'd say it would be Naru explaining and teaching me things. Actually, I think it's because my brain's beginning to shut down even more, oh joy. "But no one could have gotten in there."

"True, we did seal off every entrance," Naru explained. '_We' meaning John and I while you fiddled with some radar which I'm not even sure you should legally HAVE_ I interpreted in my mind_._ "I even had John and Mai sign their names on each panel so we could tell if someone had tampered with one."

"If someone had attempted to replace any broken pieces, there's little chance they could've replicated my signature," John inputted. Right, since his name is English and all, it doesn't have a kanji like everyone else's…

"This only proves that I've been right all along!" Kuroda pointed out, speaking for the first time.

"I placed a hypnotic suggestion in everyone's mind yesterday that this chair would move before we met here this evening," Naru said calmly.

"In the principal's office…" I stated the obvious.

"So far this method has never failed me," Naru continued, "And I have no reason to believe that it will today."

"Yeah, but, that still doesn't change the fact that no one got in here," I pointed out. Hey, I wanted to know what exactly had been happening here!

"Poltergeists are a form of latent mental powers often by people who have an unconscious craving for attention. When stress is introduced a self-defense type mechanism reacts in the brain. Hypnotic suggestions can become a reality in these types of situations," Naru explained.

_Craving attention? I know who that is…_

Voices were practically ringing into my head, screaming what Naru was implying.

"_Stop grandstanding. Are you really that desperate?"_

"_That girl's such a weirdo. She's been like that since middle school." _

"_Yeah, she's a freak."_

_Kuroda._

"So you're saying… that I'm responsible for this?" Kuroda said as she took a few steps back away from us, her voice wavered. Not that I blamed her, everyone in the room was staring at her. Ayako had a cold glare. Monk seemed to be glaring to, but also was curious about how things were unfolding. John looked surprised, Masako seemed to be merely glancing her way, but paused to continue staring and Lin was… well, Lin. I wasn't actually concentrating on her so much as the white orbs that had gone to investigate her instead of harassing me, well, except the orb near Naru.

Naru then brought our attention back to him. "From the moment I met you I knew you were trying to impress me," he said, walking a few steps closer. "For example you claimed to have seen spirits that still remained here from the war. However, there is no evidence of this area being bombed during the war, or of this building being used as a hospital. In fact, there was never a hospital built on this land, period. That means you were either mistaken, or intentionally lying to me and the others."

"I'm not a liar," Kuroda defended.

"At first I thought you were just pretending to be spiritually sensitive, so when things started happening that could only be explained as a poltergeist, I became quite perplexed," Naru continued, shifting his eyes to Masako. "My scientific experiments and Ms. Hara's psychic readings both came up clean-we determined there were no spirits." He looked back at Kuroda. "That means the haunting was of human origin." Kuroda wouldn't meet his gaze, and was clenching her fists as she glared at the ground. "Poltergeist activity is often caused by children in their early teens. There are numerous cases involving teenaged girls in particular. It's a form of psychokinesis that can occur in periods of great stress."

I thought back to how Kuroda usually observed people at school. Now it seemed so obvious what she was thinking.

_Please, look at me, acknowledge that I exist!_

And yet… I never even noticed her much before now.

"Ever since middle school you were known amongst your peers for being sensitive to spirits. But once it was proven by me that the strange phenomenon happening here was in fact due to ground subsidence, you naturally lost whatever confidence or faith you held in your own psychic abilities. This caused you immense anxiety because it went against your own beliefs, and although you could see the merits of my evidence, you still wanted to believe the spirits were to blame. You told yourself there was no other way. You simply couldn't face the truth," Naru said as we observed Kuroda slowly become more and more downcast at herself, admitting to herself the truth. Even Naru, who had shown next to no sympathy to me over the last few days as he worked me as hard and long as he could, had a gentle-ish tone to his voice. Well, as far as the definition of 'gentle' went with Naru.

Then, Kuroda broke down and started crying, holding her hands to her face. The orbs moved almost soothingly around her, even though it seemed increasingly evident no one else could see them, but it was cute and kind, in a way.

"You had no idea you did it, wow…" Monk marveled. I thought back to the little lightning that I could, believe it or not, SEE around Kuroda. Maybe, instead of just gathering around Kuroda, it actually came from Kuroda? Man, was I going to be freaking out in my room tonight once all this sunk in again.

"I firmly believe that you're a latent psychic, Kuroda," Naru said to her.

"And that means..?" I asked. Hey, I was new at this. Up until a few days ago, I only told ghost stories, not lived them.

"A latent psychic is someone who has supernatural abilities. She's not aware of it, but she has some level of PK," Naru explained. Kuroda lifted her hands away from her face at the information sunk in, but looking slightly confused. _She's right there, you know. I think she's aware…_ "I'll say this for your sake Mai. 'PK' is short for psychokinesis."

"Thank you, I'm so grateful…" I replied sarcastically. Guess him trying to comfort Kuroda bruised his ego a bit, so naturally he uses me to make his ego nice and inflated again. Then again, maybe he said it because Kuroda looked confused. Knowing Naru for the past couple of days, I'd say that the world would probably never know. The orbs then decided to return to either harassing me or chilling out over with Lin. Kuroda will be fine. I could tell.

"She believed that there had to be spirits present in the old schoolhouse in order to attract the attention of those around her. In order to be who she was," Naru concluded, seeming to be done explaining the whole thing.

"You know, I think I can understand. It's natural really," I said to Kuroda. Everyone turned towards me. Even the orbs seemed to be paying attention, if possible. "Think about it, everyone wants to believe they're special in some way, a desire to stand out from the crowd and be unique as a person. It could be a talent, or just the hope that you're recognized as an honest and kind human being." Now Naru had his evaluation face on. In other words, he's evaluating me much like he evaluated any and all cameras I even looked at. I ignored him to look at Kuroda. "In your case, Kuroda, I would imagine that it's your ability to communicate with spirits." Kuroda looked really shy and reclusive while I just beamed, hoping she would feel better. We stood like that for a few moments before Kuroda returned my smile, albeit a bit more shyly than I.

"Does that explanation satisfy everyone?" Naru asked.

"Not quite," Ayako said, stepping forward from our little group. "According to that account her elevated stress levels came after you gave us your little theory on ground subsidence, or whatever it was," Ayako pointed out, then stomped her foot. "What about me getting stuck in that room, or the video being erased, explain that!" Kuroda tensed up a bit. _Well, give you three guesses on who caused it…_

"The reason you became trapped in that room is simple. There was a nail sticking out from the floor," Naru said as he pulled out the nail he'd been playing with before.

_Guess one, a ghost. Nope, not right._

"That's it?" Ayako looked bug-eyed at the nail. I thought back to when she got stuck.

_BANG BANG BANG! "OPEN UP! I'M TRAPPED!"_

"I had noticed it that day but I never mentioned it because I didn't feel it was necessary at the time," Naru explained.

_Guess two, doors and nails conspired against Ayako. Nope, nails and doors can't conspire. No brains, no game._

"Then, someone did that on purpose?" Ayako looked over to Kuroda. "Was it you?!" Ayako accused a very guilty looking Kuroda.

_Guess three, Kuroda did it. DING, you have a brain!_

"You were just trying to get back a little at Ms. Matsuzaki. After all, she had verbally attacked you outside just moments before," Naru explained Kuroda's actions. It was weird how he kept explaining her own brain to her, like he was reminding an amnesia patient of her past.

"What about the video?" Ayako asked, even though I'm pretty sure everyone already knew the answer.

"The video tape was intentionally erased," Naru faced towards Ayako, "When you became trapped, we all left the base to come to your aid. There was plenty of time for someone to slip in there* and erase the tape without ever being seen."

"This is ridiculous," Ayako glared at Kuroda.

"What are we supposed to do now? The principal hired all of us to get this place ready so they can continue construction," Monk spoke up.

"I plan to report the following story to the principal," Naru faced the rest of the group again. "The old schoolhouse was haunted by those who died here during the war. They've all been exorcised and the structure is now clean of any paranormal activity." Naru then faced Kuroda again. "That sound okay, Kuroda?" he asked. She looked up at him for a moment before looking down and nodding.

"That's very kind of you Naru, but will you really lie to the principal? He deserves to know the real story," Masako commented for the first time. She had a point. It was very kind. I got the feeling that Naru had his own reasons for not telling the real story… _But Naru is very kind. He just sucks at showing it._

"Kuroda's doing an excellent job suppressing her feelings now. I don't think it's necessary to embarrass her any further," Naru said.

_Wow, Naru-_ My train of thought was interrupted by what I sensed next.

"Oh, I had no idea you were so sensitive. Do you have a girlfriend?" Ayako asked, leaning against his arm.

"I'm not sure I fully understand your question," Naru said simply. Of course, everything else in the world, he's a genius. Kindness? He sucked at showing it, like I said, but he could do it. Girls though? Apparently not.

"I'm saying I wouldn't mind getting to know you better, even though you are quite young," Ayako said.

Naru seemed to understand now. He didn't look too terribly excited. "Although I do appreciate the offer," he began an obvious 'no' which seemed shocking to Ayako, "I must decline." Then he began to smirk. Not a good sign. "I'm too used to looking at myself in the mirror."

Of course, this resulted in the rest of us, excluding Lin, to go into laughing fits. Even Masako had turned away and laughed.

"Let's get serious and decide who's going to take credit for this job," Ayako yelled at us.

"Everyone contributed equally. Are we all okay with that?" Naru said. We exchanged looks before nodding simultaneously. Not that I was sure why I was nodding too, but it felt natural.

"Then Mai…" Naru said, looking at me.

"I already know, boss," I said, running up to him.

"Lin, let's start breaking camp," he looked over to his actual assistant.

Lin just nodded and said, "Right," in response.

_**BLIND**_

Outside, Ayako yawned and said, "That wasn't such a big deal after all," as she walked away with Monk. Kuroda quickly bowed in thanks and goodbye and followed them over to the street, heading for the school.

"Admit it, you were scared in there, weren't you," I could hear Monk retort.

"You'd like that wouldn't you?" Ayako deadpanned. I could faintly hear Monk's laughter as they got farther away.

_Well, I guess this is it. The investigation's over, everyone's leaving, and it's back to school for me._

"Shouldn't you be heading to class?" I heard a voice say as they put their hands on the tripod I held.

I was so lost in thought that I didn't notice Naru had walked up to me. "I was going to help you pack up everything," I explained as he took the equipment from me. "After all, you are still my boss for the next few minutes."

"I can handle it," Naru said as he turned towards the van. "Why don't you head back to class. I'd hate to see you plummet even further into the depths of dumb," Naru remarked as he set the tripod into the van.

"Geez, you must really enjoy putting me down, don't you? I'm a lot smarter than you take me for," I replied, stomping away. One thing I'd always been a bit sensitive of is being called stupid for not being able to see. Which, ironically enough, is rather stupid. I turned back around towards the van. "See you later, jerk face!" I said before running off towards the school.

"I can't believe how cold he is!" I yelled to myself once he was out of hearing range. "He's acting like he doesn't even care. That's it! From this moment on, I'm forgetting that Naru the Narcissist even exists!" I yelled as I ran into the school.

_**BLIND**_

After I got home that day, I had all the things about me being able to see hit me, hard. I actually freaked out so much that I didn't go to school the next day. I said I got a cold. I felt like I had been hit by a ton of bricks and then had a steam-roller run over me. But even when I did go to school, it wasn't much better. I kept thinking about the investigation, which made me think of the people I worked with for a brief time, which caused me to think of Naru, which caused me to catch myself smiling off into space.

It was during one of these times a few days later when I felt like something big was about to happen. About one second after that that we could feel and hear rumbling. The old schoolhouse was shaking; the glass still on the windows breaking and half of the building fell down right in front of our eyes. Well, in my case, right in front of me, but the windows were open and I could sense, not to mention hear and somewhat feel, exactly what was happening. It was awe-striking that, a couple of days ago, I was in there, and if Naru hadn't found out the problem so quickly, the others might have still been in there, hurt, dead even.

I could have been in there

During lunch break, the main topics were the schoolhouse, the ghost rumors, and Kuroda.

"That's amazing, Kuroda! So the stories about the ghosts were true after all!" one girl talking to Kuroda said.

"I can't believe it collapsed," another girl commented.

I sighed. If only they knew…

"Cheer up Mai, we're the ones who should be sighing," Keiko said.

"Yeah, what the heck Mai? Kazuya's gone forever and you didn't think to ask for his address? We couldn't even find his phone number in the book," Michiru complained.

"Attention Mai Taniyama, you have a telephone call. Please report to the front office immediately," the intercom said, freeing me from my friends' interrogation.

I went down to the office and picked up the phone line. "Hello?" I asked. Who on Earth would call me, regardless of being in school or not?

"Hello Mai," a very familiar voice responded. The very last person I'd ever expect to be calling for me.

"Uhh.. OH, HI!" I yelled in surprise.

"There's no need to yell," the voice responded.

_I only know one person who could sound that condescending. Naru._ I refused to notice that I had that stupid smile on my face and responded into the phone. "So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" I asked.

"Your fee," he said.

"My what?"

"Your money for the hours you worked as my assistant. If you don't want it I could always give it to charity."

I held the phone away from my ear. _Geez, this guy's all business._

'I'll send the check out today so you should have it soon," Naru seemed to take my silence as a 'yes', "and I was curious if your school would allow you to have a job. If you're interested, I have a position open for you. It's just office work but it would be good experience for you."

Naru, what was he up to? Oh well. "Sure, that sounds great!" I said. Never had I been offered a job. Heck, I was usually begging for a job up until my employers found out that I was blind and would deem me unfit for working there.

"Then come on down to my office to fill out some paperwork. It's in Shibuya, off Dogenzaka," Naru's words rang through my head as I ran towards his office. "And thanks for all your help, you were an excellent assistant. I'll be seeing you soon," he finished in my head as I reached the door of the office, emblazed with the office name.

_And that's the story of how I came to work at Shibuya Psychic Research, or SPR for short, if you want to know how us industry insiders say it!_

_**BLIND**_

*** I just wanted to share that when I was going through that dialogue bit, Mai actually said 'Last time I saw me he ended up in the hospital.' No joke. I had to listen through it three times before I was sure. Also, Naru says 'phenomenon' very weirdly, as in, he says 'phenomenoah'. I don't know whether we just say it weird where I'm from, or if the voice actor has an accent or what, but either way I'm giggling…**

***Naru says here instead of there, but they aren't in the base, so I had to adjust. Oh, he also says if the school COULD allow Mai to have a job, not WOULD. Teachers, do your worst…**

**Oh, and also, if you ever see Naru think 'Me or -' or 'I and -', it's not that Naru doesn't know basic concepts of the English (er, Japanese) language, as he'll never say it out loud like that, but he's really THAT much of a narcissist. I'll write it either way because I will forget (I'm not perfect, nor will I claim to be), but I try to make him as narcissistic as possible.**

**Dogenzaka (I hope I spelled that right), from what I gather, is an area in Shibuya that is basically the shopping and entertainment district. I'm am yet am not surprised they didn't replace that somehow. It's not like an eight year old is going to be watching a show this scary, even early on in the series, so there wouldn't be a problem with asking about where or what Dogenzaka is, and after ten or eleven you either don't care or know how to use Google.**

**AND HOLY COW IN A BOX IT'S FINALLY DONE!**

**Up next, The Dollhouse. Let all twenty-something collectable dolls in my basement not decide to become animated….**


	4. Chapter 4

**Hey again! I'm back already! I love you guys so much and was so happy I just wrote and wrote and… You get the picture. But don't expect this often. My friend was also there making sure I was writing and hissing at me whenever I tried to close my laptop. My friend, who I'll just call J, is also a writer. Only J does Loki fanfiction, and has a tumblr. J tries to get me to join. Should I? Good question.**

**I loved all the reviews you guys gave me! I try to keep in consideration what everyone likes, doesn't like, and wants, but you have to tell me these things if you want them noted in my files! And some ideas will take longer to process into the story. Just so you know.**

**For the record, I plan to do ALL the stories, including the manga, and possibly the stories in the books from AFTER the Forgotten Children case. Well, if I can get my hands on them.**

**Also, I plan to do my own cases. The chapters may or may not be as long as they have been for those cases, unfortunately. I just don't know WHEN in the story these cases will be. I do have certain elements from the main plot that will be put in pretty much in the middle cases, which brings us to another point.**

**The plot. It will have a thick supernatural turn to it, and I'll definitely have some new aspects on some of the later cases. For now, though, the cases will be pretty cut-and-dry. I'll try to make them as interesting as possible for you guys, regardless. **

**Emphasis on 'try'.**

**Bold italics are, as later revealed, Mai talking in her thoughts, or in this version, writing in her diary.**

**On with the story!**

**EDIT- This is the last chapter I re-edited for the line breaks, but chances are I'm doing more major things to the part I added in, as well as some regular editing like I did in the other chapters. So, feel free to ignore the other edited chapters, but this one you may want to skim through at least.**

_**BLIND**_

_**Dear Diary,**_

_**Hi, I'm Mai Taniyama, a freshman in high school. I have what you might call a 'weird job.'…**_

_**BLIND**_

You know when you want to do something, and you know it's a really bad idea, but you do it anyway? That would be me, back in April, agreeing to work for a major narcissist.

It's not that I don't like working, or that the work is really, really hard, and I'm glad to have said work, but if I have to deal with another client who merely had a bad electrical current somewhere or some bad pipes, I'll scream, take one of the blobs that usually hang around office, and throw them at someone.

I mean, I may have only dealt with a single actual case, but I did end up reading through every parapsychology book I could get my hands on, meaning mainly the ones in the office. I couldn't gather much from them, though. Naru probably thought it would be stupid to have books on things he already knew in his office instead of at home or at a library. Regardless, I still could figure out the difference between the possibilities of a ghost versus a pipe.

But we did get a woman to come in recently who was clearly distraught. It certainly didn't sound like just a few maintenance issues. Plus the air about her felt… disturbed.

We took the case.

_**BLIND**_

July

Day 1

"Wow, what a cool house," I said as Naru and I stood at the gates of our clients house.

_**That guy standing next to me is Kazuya Shibuya. He's my boss.**_

Naru simply gazed at the house and walked up to the house. I followed behind. Lin was going to park the van and do equipment checks while Naru and I talked to the clients. We were met at the door by the woman who came in to the office, our client.

As we walked in my senses were amazed by the grandeur of the house. In other words, it was big and grand. Not to mention very nice.

Heck, there was a giant window in front of the stairs looking out to the yard. Well, I think it looked out to the yard. I just knew the yard was in that direction, and a wall of glass panes was there, so I assumed.

_**Before I get into the mess that is my job, I should mention one little fact about me. I'm blind. I can get around fine, though, due to the fact that I can sense my surroundings, even the thin trail of lead or groove on paper to read and write.**_

"I'm sorry to drag you out here like this, it's quite a drive from the city," our client said, before introducing the other habitants of the house. "This is my sister-in-law Kana, and my niece, Ayumi," she indicated first to a woman with short hair and a little girl holding a… something. I couldn't tell. It was almost like the whole thing was covered completely in wool so I couldn't sense it. A blanket maybe? "My brother's on a business trip overseas at the moment, so it's just us three girls it the house all by ourselves."

_**Three days ago that woman, Noriko Morishita, came by the office I work at, and hired us to investigate her home…**_

"_There's something strange about that house. The furniture will rattle all by itself, I'll hear knocking on the walls of rooms when I'm the only one home, and doors will constantly open and close all by themselves…"_

"As you can imagine we're pretty frightened," Noriko told us.

"I'd like to have a word with your boss," Kana said abruptly.

Naru took stepped forward and said, "My name is Kazuya Shibuya, and I own the company."

"Oh, I, uh…." Kana was stunned.

_**It's not uncommon for people to react like her when you consider the lead investigator is only a teenager. He's extremely self-confident, which lead to the nickname I thought up-Naru the Narcissist.**_

"So anyway," Kana recovered quickly, "what are we looking at? Do you really believe we have a ghost?"

"We will explore all options in our investigation," Naru told her.

_**I'm happy to say that I'm a proud member of the team at Shibuya Psychic Research.**_

_**Whenever we do on-site investigations we always set up a base, or headquarters. This is the main room we operate at while we conduct experiments. **_

…_**At least, that's what Naru told me we'd do if we accept case. This actually only my second case.**_

"How's set-up of all the equipment looking?" Naru asked Lin, who sat in front of his computer checking just that.

"All audio and video feeds are transmitting clearly," Lin reported. He continued reporting the rest of the equipment statuses to Naru, but I ended up drowning him out.

_**That's Lin, Naru's assistant. He's not a big talker, and he's definitely not a fan of me. So I try to keep my distance. **_

"I wonder if we're dealing with a poltergeist?" I wondered out loud. I think Lin was surprised that I was so close, because he definitely reacted. "Judging from Noriko's description…"

"Ah, you're sounding less like an amateur each day, aren't you kiddo?" I heard from behind me. I sent my senses behind me and found Monk and Ayako in the doorway.

"Hey Monk," I greeted.

He saluted friendlily before responding with a "Hey."

_**That's Houshou Takigawa, he's a monk from Mount Kouya.**_

"I see you're overdoing it again with all this fancy equipment."

_**And that's Ayako Matsuzaki, a self-styled shrine maiden. Neither of them are members of SPR, but they offered their help on jobs when their specific skills are needed.**_

"Let me see," Ayako bustled her way through to the monitors. After looking for less than a second she said, "Clearly the work of an earth spirit."

"It's definitely a human, the evidence speaks for itself," I argued. While there was a few holes in my theory not quite enough evidence to make a verdict, the chance of it being an earth spirit was next to none.

"Well listen to you," Ayako said, probably pleased at how I asserted myself, unlike last time in April where I shrunk away.

"Tsk tsk," I began, "Now don't forget, nearly half of all poltergeist cases can be attributed to human interaction. Many of those cases deal with women under great deals of stress. This case in particular may have to do with the woman of the house not getting along with her sister-in-law."

"Like Noriko?" Monk questioned.

"I'd buy it. That Kana woman does seem to be a bit unpleasant," Ayako said.

"You're welcome," I responded.

"It's amateurish at best," Naru interrupted before I could begin on the theory holes myself. "In cases where a human is to blame for a poltergeist the culprit is usually a teenager or an adolescent child. Noriko is already in her twenties, so she doesn't meet the age requirement."

"But-" I tried to get a word in.

"Now it is true that there are cases of women who are sensitive to the paranormal, so I'll consider that in my final decision," Naru continued on.

_Why you-! Excuse me, I'm still learning my way, got it?!_

I ended up leaving to base to look around the house.

"Why does my boss have to be such a jerk all the time?" I asked myself. Although, to be honest, he wasn't ALWAYS a jerk. If he was, I wouldn't have been hired, nor would he bother explaining things I didn't understand…

"Hi there Mai," Noriko said, holding a tray. She was about to go up the stairs. I guess I was so lost in thought I didn't quite notice. "Perfect timing. I'm taking some lunch to Ayumi. Would you care to join me?" she asked.

Instantly I had a smile on my face. "That sounds great!" We started up the stairs. "Ayumi is such a cutie pie. If you had to say, does she take more after her father or her mother?"

"Hm," Noriko thought for a moment before responding, "Probably her mother."

That surprised me. "Really? Because she doesn't look like Kana at all…" I replied.

"Well that's because Kana isn't Ayumi's birth mother," Noriko explained. "My brother had her with his previous wife."

"Oh, I'm sorry," I quickly responded. This was a personal matter, and none of my business.

"Don't worry about it," Noriko assured me lightly.

We reached Ayumi's door and knocked before entering.

"Ayumi, lunch time," Noriko declared as she stepped in. "Mai's here too."

"Hey Ayumi," I cheerfully greeted from behind Noriko. "Hope you're hungry!" I sent my sense over to her to try and get a good 'look' at her. Even blind, my senses could tell she was totally adorable. She was reading a picture book, and this time, the object from before was clearly a doll. "She's so cute!" I ended up saying out loud. Ayumi picked the doll up and walked over to us.

She held out the doll's arm and said, "Nice to meet you," for both herself and the doll.

"Oh, hello, and you are?" I asked the doll.

"Minnie," replied Ayumi for the doll once more.

The doll then started getting fuzzy again. It wasn't by much, but it surprised me.

"Ayumi, your new book. Are you enjoying it?" Noriko asked.

Ayumi was smiling up at her, but then suddenly looked a little like she forgot something, and was scared. I felt like I just had cold water pass through me, and the doll, or what I think was a doll a few moments ago, turned completely fuzzy. Ayumi now was very drawn back, and the air itself was… strange… disturbed would be the best word for it.

"What's wrong?" Noriko asked. The sudden shift didn't go unnoticed by Noriko either. Ayumi took a step back, and the doll-wool-thing's hand fell out of my hand.

"Why don't you have some food, kay?" I said. Ayumi took another step back and clutched the doll tighter and turned away.

"I'm… not hungry," Ayumi said quietly. Noriko and I looked at her in silence and concern.

_I wonder what came over her so suddenly…_

_**BLIND**_

Later on that night, we gathered Kana, Noriko, and Ayumi and her doll (for now) together.

"Focus your eyes on the light," Naru commanded softly as a lamp whirred.

_**Naru's first experiment was to see if the source of the poltergeist was human or not by using this glowing red light-or so I've been told it's glowing and red. **_

"Try to match your breathing to the glow of the light," Naru commanded again. "Nice and slow."

_**It's said that in the case of people causing poltergeists, they use a supernatural ability they're unaware of possessing. So when a suggestion is planted into the subconscious…**_

"Tonight, the vase will move, a small glass vase to be exact. It will be sitting on the table in front of you now."

_**If the person who receives the suggestion is the culprit, they will do what Naru has told them.**_

Naru gave me a pointed look, and I flipped the light switch to on. All three of the other females snapped out of the trance, rather confused.

"That'll be all," Naru dismissed them, "please try to spend the rest of your evening as you would any normal night. Kana, the key?"

"Oh, right," Kana said as she sat up to give it to him. Her eyes snapped to the object in his hands.

A small glass vase. Everyone was looking at it.

_**The suggestion worked. As you can see, no pun intended, everyone's eyes were focused on the vase.**_

I drew a chalk circle around the vase after it was only me and Naru in the room.

_So if a human is the cause of the poltergeist in this house, the vase will move. And if it doesn't move, then the cause is unknown. _

_**BLIND**_

Day 1

21:00

(for those of you less-than-savvy in military time, it's 9)

We were watching the monitors. Or at least, Lin and Naru were. Ayako and Monk were sitting by the door, supposedly 'ready for action' in case something happened and were right near the door, and I was trying to ignore the blobs the best I could and look like I was focusing. Oh yes, the blobs were here too. I really should find an official name for these things. They didn't follow me home, but they were at the office a lot. I think that they might be connected to Lin, but I wasn't sure how. It's not like I could use a computer, and it's not as if I would get good results anyway. There were about five, and at least one constantly followed Naru around. That one ignored me usually.

"Any movement?" Naru asked Lin.

"Not yet," Lin responded.

I started thinking about the case when the door opened loudly behind us. Kana stood there, panting, Offering no explanation, Kana simply ordered, "Come quickly."

We all ran up the stairs behind Kana up to Ayumi's room.

Kana shoved the door open, letting us see inside.

"I came up here to put Ayumi to bed when I found all the furniture like this," Kana explained.

"Everything's been moved away from the wall," I stated. It was true. Everything had been moved away, even the carpet, it was at a bit of a tilt now, as if the furniture just all moved to the side and slightly inward, but the walls had stayed in place.

"What's going on? I thought you people were supposed to stop things like this from happening," Kana said. Well, more like yelled, actually.

"Are you sure the little girl didn't do this?" Ayako asked. Always the one to question everything.

I sent my senses over to Ayumi. She looked distraught and guilty, and loosely had her doll, which was completely a doll, in her hands.

"There's no way she's that strong!" I argued to Ayako. How could she think that was a respectable possibility? Ayumi is like, 8 or something!

"You're right," Monk said. "The rug was moved as well. Even I don't have that kind of strength." Monk was easily one of the strongest of our group, aside from Lin. I doubted Lin could do it though, unless he was secretly able to call on demons from who-knows-where and get them to move them, and even then, it wouldn't be Lin's actual physical strength.

"I agree," said Naru. "If there's a human capable of this, I'd love to meet him." See? Not Lin.

"I was merely throwing the option out there," Ayako defended.

"It wasn't Ayumi," the little girl said, holding onto Noriko's hand.

"Aw, we believe you," I patted Ayumi's head. Then we heard a scream from downstairs.

Noriko.

Just peachy.

"What's wrong?!" I said as soon as I got to the living room where Noriko was. She didn't answer, but I could tell what it was soon enough.

_**This time everything was upside-down!**_

"Even the carpet's been flipped over," I said as I turned part of the carpet up.

"Classic poltergeist activity," Monk said.

"It's a simple earth spirit, I'll have it driven out of the house by tomorrow morning. You'll see," Ayako said before turning and walking away. "Good night everyone."

"Where does she get her confidence?" I questioned. It was like she was hiding her true talent, but if that was true, why? Why hide it?

"What's up Naru?" Monk directed my attention towards my boss, who was looking at the room silently. "You look like you're on to something. Care to share with the rest of us?"

Naru turned towards us and said, "Don't you think this response is a little quick? Paranormal phenomenon tend to have an aversion to outsiders. Usually any signs of a haunting back off in the first twenty four hours of an investigation."

"Really?" I asked.

"If you ever watch those TV shows that cover famous haunted houses, usually nothing substantial ever happens on camera, right? Normally the spirits will shy away from the visitor initially, but that's not the case here. I think this is full-on hatred," Monk explained.

"You thinking the same thing I am?" Naru asked Monk.

Monk nodded and responded, "Yeah," before explaining. "The house is aware of our presence, and it's quickly becoming angry with us, so if you coupled that with these increasingly brazen attempts to scare us off, we're dealing with a poltergeist that means business."

"We may have a hard time with this one," Naru's expression got dark as he said this.

_**Naru declared that Ayumi's bedroom and the living room are now off-limits to everyone until the completion of the investigation. Ayumi was to stay in Noriko's room from here on out.**_

_**BLIND**_

Day 2

_**The next morning the vase in the family room hadn't moved an inch from the night before. Does that mean an actual spirit is haunting this house?**_

Monk surprised me by trying to steal the diary in my hand. "Hey!" I said, trying to get the diary back.

"So Mai has a diary, huh? Looks new," Monk commented. I reached up and stole it back out of his hands.

"It was a gift from Keiko and Michiru," I pouted.

"A gift? What for?" Monk asked.

"Um…" I was saved from answering by the audio of Ayako's exorcism coming over the speakers. I went over to Naru to 'look' at the monitors. It would seem I'm actually paying attention instead of slacking off and writing down in my diary.

"Well that should do it," I could hear over the audio as Ayako stepped out of the room she had done the exorcism in. "Sometimes I amaze even myself, haha!"

… just how many narcissists can one team have?

A lot, apparently.

_**BLIND**_

Day 2

Night

"Naru, here's the temperature rundown for every room in the house," I gave Naru the clipboard. It was only us in base.

"Ayumi's room is few degrees cooler than the rest," Naru noticed then turned to type the data in.

_**Naru taught me that whenever a spirit is present the temperature drops.**_

"The house itself looks to be structurally sound, all the floors are flat, there's no sign of subterranean water lose, so the ground is solid," Naru told me.

"Do you think there really is a ghost?" I asked. This was starting to freak me out a little. Last time there wasn't even an actual ghost and we almost all of us got hurt.

"The chances of that are increasing," Naru said honestly.

"Seriously?" I paled.

Our conversation was cut short by a scream, this time belonging to Kana. Me and Naru ran to the scene. The kitchen.

I obviously couldn't see the flames, and trying to sense flames usually ended in my senses feeling singed, but I could definitely feel the heat.

"Kana!" I yelled, rushing over the woman's aid, pulling her back a bit away from the heat.

"The flames just started shooting out of nowhere!" Kana told me.

"Just get back!" Naru ordered us, putting his arm in front of us to physically move us back. "Takigawa!" he yelled for Monk, who had at some point ran with us. I guess he heard the scream too.

Monk grabbed a fire extinguisher and pulled the key out, spraying down the fire.

Noriko ran in and held a crying Kana as I stood there stunned. I couldn't completely sense fire, nor water or the foam coming out. It was like trying to grab any of the things listed, you could kind of do it, but not really. To me, my senses were just stuck on that 'visual'. It was mesmerizing and terrifying to me, all at the same time, as Monk worked to get the fire out. Trying to grasp fire, water, and very liquidy foam, it was something else indeed.

A little while later, the fire was out, and I felt a little exhausted, the trance the fire had put me in was now gone along with some of my energy. Everyone was tired from the excitement as well, and Kana was no longer crying. Ayako had entered at some point. I wasn't sure when. One of the blobs was floating around me, settling on resting near my shoulder, almost in my hair. It was calming, in a way.

I noticed another bit of light in front of me, and I felt cold. I ended up looking over towards the window near the stove, where the fire had come from. I saw someone or something looking in, and then disappear. Just… vanish.

"Naru! Someone's out there!" I yelled before I could stop myself. Naru looked at me for a moment before rushing over to the window. I tried to calm myself down for a moment. I had just seen something again! Just like in April. The blobs I got used to, but this… A full body?

Naru looked through the window and looked back at me "Are you sure?" he questioned.

"Yes!" I said. I was blind-if I saw something, I'd be pretty damn sure I saw it. "Someone was looking through the window! A little kid…"

I was sure I looked like a mess, but I wasn't the only one. All of us looked a little worse for wear.

This was going to be a long night.

_**BLIND**_

"Okay, Minnie, time for me to tuck you in," I could faintly hear Ayumi say through the door.

Naru, Monk, and I quietly peered through the slightly cracked door. We went to check on Ayumi, just in case either A-the ghost attacked, or B- Ayumi had caused the fire.

Ayumi was pulling a handkerchief over Minnie like a blanket when Noriko hit the light switch.

_Oh yeah, the lights must have been off… I keep forgetting that. One of these days I'll make the wrong comment and somone'll figure it out… I need to be careful of that._

"Sweetie?" Noriko said before walking to Ayumi, who stood up when Noriko approached her. Noriko put her hands on Ayumi's shoulders. "Ayumi? Were you just outside?" Noriko asked the girl.

"No," Ayumi responded softly.

"Mai saw someone looking through the kitchen window," Noriko said. Oh if she only knew the half of it. "Now I'm not angry, I just want to know if it was you."

"I wasn't," Ayumi told her. The doll started to feel 'fuzzy' again.

"Are you telling the truth?" Noriko shook the girl slightly. Ayumi took a few steps away from Noriko.

"I am," Ayumi said with a scared voice. Minnie was now fully gone to my senses. "Ayumi didn't do it!" A loud knock was heard from the ceiling. The room started shaking and more loud knocking sounds accompanied it.

"What's happening?" I questioned, honestly a little scared. The furniture was shaking now too.

"Ayumi didn't do it," Ayumi said before another knock was heard, moving the bookcase. "Stop it!" The bookcase started fall over, right where Noriko was kneeling.

"Noriko!" I tried to move towards her to help her, but Naru wrapped an arm around me and pulled me back.

"Aunt Nori!" I could hear Ayumi cry.

"Oh no," I gasped.

Noriko turned around just in time to see the bookcase crash down on her.

_**BLIND**_

Day 3

"So what's that, two huge failures in a row?" Monk asked Ayako, who was still in her priestess clothing. It had just turned midnight.

"I guess I'm just a useless waste of space, then," Ayako huffed before walking out of base.

_**Luckily Noriko wasn't hurt in the incident. Naru wouldn't answer why he kept me from helping Noriko before. Monk kept snickering whenever I asked about it, mumbling about the buddings of love. I threw a shoe at him and stopped asking.**_

"So, yesterday, what was that?" I asked.

"It seemed to react to the little girl's shouting," Monk pointed out. "And it could be tied to the image of the child you mentioned seeing in the kitchen."

"I believe that Ayumi is behind this," Naru stated.

"I thought the suggestion experiment you conducted proved the culprit wasn't human. How much confidence do you put in that test of yours?" Monk questioned.

"One hundred percent," Naru told him.

"Is it possible the suggestion failed?" Monk asked.

"There's no way."

_Didn't he just contradict himself? Maybe he just needs some sleep… We all do._

"You know you've been wrong before," Monk glared. Oh, cold blow, dude. Leave those for Naru's interrogations.

"Kazuya," Lin interrupted. "The temperature in Ayumi's room is dropping again."

"Lin, more sound!" Naru ordered.

Lin put the sound up, and we could clearly hear rattling. Very loud rattling.

"That is intense," Monk commented.

I felt a cold chill, and could see the dull monitor for Ayumi's room.

_There isn't even anyone in that room._

"Incredible," I heard Naru say.

"What's that?" I asked him. I could no longer see the monitor, but I still felt really cold.

"The temperature," Naru stated, "It's dropping unbelievably fast.

"Hold on, then who could be responsible for doing this?" I asked him.

"It's not Ayumi, that's for sure. No, no human could pull this off," Naru stated.

_It's weird, but…_

_It's almost as if the ghost purposely did that to disprove Naru…_

_**BLIND**_

"I take it Ayumi likes to keep to herself, huh?" I asked Noriko. Ayumi was playing with Minnie, who was, in fact, a doll. For now, at least. Noriko was watching her and I had decided to join her.

"Well normally she's a lot more outgoing and cheerful then how you've been seeing her. She's been acting strange ever since her dad got remarried a few weeks ago," Noriko told me.

"I see," I said. Maybe she was upset about the marriage? We heard a soft knocking at the door.

Kana came in with a tray of juice and cookies. "Ayumi," she said, "it's time for your snack." She walked to the little coffee table in Noriko's room and set the tray down in front of Ayumi. "It's nice to have someone to play with, don't you think so?" Ayumi didn't answer. "I really wish you would talk to me more. Why don't you have a cookie?" Still no response. Ayumi didn't even look at Kana. 'Don't you want one?" Ayumi didn't look up. Kana frowned. "Fine. Suit yourself," Kana said before standing up and walking out, closing the door loudly behind her.

I sighed. That was… bad. "It's okay sweetie," Noriko said to Ayumi before sitting beside her on the ground next to the table. "Is it alright with you if your Aunt Noriko had a cookie?" she asked before reaching over and grabbing one.

"No!" Ayumi yelled and slapped the cookie out of her hand. "Those cookies are no good!" she yelled, shocking both me and Noriko. "Minnie told me so. She said all the snacks are poisoned. Minnie told me my new mom is a witch. She said she made dad her servant with her magic. She said Ayumi and Aunt Nori are in the way so she's trying to poison us," Ayumi finished and clutched Minnie.

_This is getting weirder. _I looked at the doll._ The doll told her all that?_ Almost on cue, the doll felt fuzzy to me again.

Correction. This was going to be a long investigation.

_**BLIND**_

I ran off to find Naru to tell him about Ayumi and the doll. I found him in the room we had the glass vase experiment. Or rather, I found the blob that follows him around and found him there. He was looking at the chalk circle on the table.

"Naru?" I asked. He turned around.

"Mai. Have you seen the glass vase that was in here?" Naru asked me.

"The vase? It's not here?" I asked.

"It was. Originally it was sitting on this table, in the middle of our little circle. However, it's no longer here," Naru explained.

"That's weird," I said, temporally forgetting what it was I was going to tell Naru. "Have you looked around?"

Stupid question.

"No Mai, I was completely engrossed in standing around when a ghost could be around haunting a house and suddenly, one of our experiments disappeared. Of course I was looking, idiot."

Obvious answer.

"I'll help you," I said before I actually thought it through. Naru turned away and started looking around the sofa again. I joined him over at the couch, searching under the table. When I was sure Naru wasn't paying mind to me I sent my senses out to search.

It took a few minutes to find it on top of the bookshelf.

"Hey Naru," I began before being shut off by the door slamming shut. Naru looked over at me, then the door. "What was that?"

Naru didn't answer me, instead opting to try the door. It didn't open. The Naru-blob was now alert.

"Are we locked in?" I asked.

"Yes," Naru said after a moment before trying to pull the door open. I put my hands on the handle as well and pulled. It was started to get a bit cold.

Feeling a bit hypersensitive, I sent my senses out again, finding the vase to be rattling on the bookcase. Suddenly it flew towards us. I yelped and pulled Naru down onto the floor. The vase shattered on the door above our heads. I held my breath.

After a few moments Naru stood up and pulled me to my feet, being careful of the glass around us. I reached over and tried the door.

It opened easily.

"It's toying with us," Naru stated.

"Come again?" I asked.

"It knows we're here and that we're trying to figure out what it is, so it's playing with us. It's under the assumption that we can't find it," Naru explained.

"So this ghost, whatever it is, is as narcissist and proud as you are?" I asked. Naru frowned further but nodded.

"How did you know the vase was there?" Naru asked.

"What do you mean?" I paled. He can't have figured it out, right?

"You weren't facing the direction the vase came from; you were trying to open the door. How'd you know that the vase was about to hit us?"

"I, um," I was interrupted by a book slamming on the ground. I turned, sending my senses over there. I felt even colder than before. The blob was now alert again, and started darting around the room. More books and other objects started slamming around us. We turned to leave, and right on cue, the door slammed closed again.

Great. Just great.

Naru tried the door. When it didn't work, he pulled me closer before setting me between the wall and himself. Things flew around, and occasionally one would hit close to us. The blob would chase after the objects flying around, and would stop the object from flying, causing it to fall before it would go right back up again. It blocked any of the ones getting too close to us. It was like a storm.

It only lasted about a minute or two, and it felt like hours, but the activity eventually stopped. I was shaking, I knew it, and I think Naru noticed too. No sooner had it been quiet for more than a few seconds than Naru had grabbed my wrist, pulled open the door, and got out of that room.

_**BLIND**_

We ended up in the kitchen. Without even thinking about it, I started going through the cabinets. I was looking for something, something that I do when I was anxious. Naru didn't interrupt me, instead opting to watch me.

After a while I had two cups of chamomile tea, one for Naru and one for myself.

Mine was to calm myself down.

Naru's was a thank you.

I gave Naru his cup then went over to the dining room and sat down in one of the chairs at the table's head. Naru followed me in and sat in the chair to the right of the head next to me. He watched me for a second. I sipped my tea and took some deep breaths. He sipped his tea carefully after a moment.

We sat there sipping tea in silence for a good while.

"Thank you," I muttered as I 'looked' at the tea leaves in the empty cup.

"I never knew you to be a tea drinker," Naru replied, ignoring my thanks.

I smiled. Typical Naru. "Hm, my mom used to work tea shop, and she loved it. Occasionally I'd go to work with her or go there after school. I learned a lot about tea making there. I guess I got obsessed, but not quite to her level. I still make her tea every now and again. Usually people rely on teabags, so I'm surprised they have traditional stuff here."

"Hm," was Naru's only response, and he sipped some more tea.

"Do you drink a lot of tea?" I asked.

"Not lately," Naru responded

"Hn," I replied, sensing the tea leaves. I've heard of reading tea leaves to read your fortune or what not, but I never learned how.

After a few more moments had past, Naru stood up. "Come on, you should go to bed," Naru said, extending a hand towards me. I turned my attention towards it before gingerly taking it and standing up. I let go after I was sure I could stand up and walk on my own, and Naru took my cup from me. I followed him wordlessly as he set the cups in the sink, quickly washing out the tea leaves. "It'll stain if we leave them with the leaves in there, but it should be fine like this," Naru stated.

He then walked us over to Noriko's guest room that I was staying in. He stopped at the door, and I walked in.

I turned over to Naru. "Thank you," I said again.

"Sleep. We can't have you even more incompetent than as is," Naru stated. Typical. He really couldn't do anything without insulting my intelligence, could he?

I chuckled before closing the door softly. I faintly remember hearing Naru's footsteps fade away down the hallway.

_**BLIND**_

I woke up to a red-tinged room. I still felt really tired.

_Where am I?_

I sat up and sent my senses out. Even though I could see, and the place was vaguely familiar, I couldn't recognize it. Somehow I had managed to keep my senses in this dream. Sometimes, or rather, usually, I couldn't.

_Oh, this is Noriko's guest room. I was so tired I don't even remember going to bed._

I stretched after a moment, starting to feel a little awake. I looked over at the door. A guy was standing there. It took me a moment but I recognized him as the one I saw back in April. I sent my senses over to him, but it was like trying to sense water. In other words, it was an epic fail to try.

"Who are you?" I looked at the troubled expression on his face. "What's wrong?" I asked.

The guy looked like he was talking, but I couldn't hear anything.

"What? I can't hear you!"

He talked with no words again, and I heard him a second after he finished.

"_Ayumi's in great danger,"_ he said, his voice, which sounded a lot like Naru, echoed.

"She-she is? I don't understand. How? How is she in danger? Hey, what's going on? Please, talk to me! Is Ayumi okay?"

I woke up with a start, completely blind once more. I sat up and sent my senses to the door where the guy stood in my dream.

Nothing.

"That was weird…" I voiced. Then I realized something with a gasp. I felt my cheeks burn.

_I don't believe myself. Here I am dreaming about that guy AGAIN! What's wrong with me? Did I seriously make a smiling version of Naru in my head?_

"Oh yeah, I forgot!" I realized before hastily getting redressed and rushing off.

Man, Naru was going to kill me for not telling him earlier.

Worse yet, I think Naru would never be caught either.

I found Naru in base and quickly relayed the whole story.

"Minnie's the one who told her that?" Naru asked me after I finished. "So she's talking with the doll."

"Yeah. Pretty creepy huh?" I replied. Well, he hasn't tried to kill me yet.

_It was definitely a dream. There's no way possible they're the same guy, they're so different! No, this guy is someone else._

_The question is, who?_

_**BLIND**_

I waited for Noriko to bring the doll. After what Mai told me, my suspicions of the doll had increased.

Mai.

I felt as if I was being watched by her no matter who she was talking to or what direction she would face as long as she was in the same room. She also was not afraid to fight with me, and even though she was stuck in a room with a severe amount of poltergeist activity going on, she hadn't screamed.

She can also make a damn good cup of tea.

I hadn't gotten any closer to figuring her out though. Maybe I should ask for Monk and Ayako's help? No, Ayako would make too much of a ruckus and we'd get nowhere. Maybe just Monk?

Noriko chose that moment to come in carrying the blonde doll into base, interrupting my thoughts.

"This is Ayumi's doll, Minnie," Noriko said as she handed the doll to me. "My brother bought it for her as a present right before they moved into the house with me."

I examined the doll fully. It was creepy of its own, truthfully. But the chances that this doll and whatever spirit possessed causing all this to happen… What if it isn't just the doll?

"Did Ayumi's behavior change before she got the doll, or after?" I questioned Noriko.

"Um, it was after," Noriko said after thinking for a moment.

The door opened to show a panting Ayumi. "Let go of her!" she demanded and ran up to me trying to get the doll. "I'll save you Minnie!" I pulled the doll up out of her reach. Ayumi clutched my shirt. "Give her back!" she demanded again.

I sank down to her level and asked, "Now Ayumi, I understand you're able to talk to Minnie." I left that hanging in the air. It was up to Ayumi to respond. Ayumi looked at me for a second before looking down at the floor. I took that as a yes. Then Ayumi took the doll and turned.

"Don't you ever touch her again!" she yelled as she ran off.

"Ayumi!" Noriko shouted after her.

_Ayumi's rather possessive of that doll._

Then a dark thought crossed my mind.

_Perhaps it's the doll that is possessive of Ayumi._

_**BLIND**_

Noriko and I snuck into where Ayumi laid in bed. Naru told us to get the doll away from Ayumi, but she wouldn't let us take her again. So we waited until she was asleep to take the thing.

Right now the doll was simply that, a doll. I gently grabbed it from Ayumi's side without the girl noticing. "Ayumi, I'm sorry. I just need to borrow Minnie for a little bit," I apologized to the sleeping girl. I turned my head towards Noriko and we nodded before sneaking back out to base.

I was told to place the doll in Ayumi's room while Noriko went to bed. We were going to watch the doll and see if anything happened. So basically, another experiment.

"So that's Minnie, huh? Surprised the little squirt let you take her," Monk commented, looking at the monitors.

"Yeah, well to be honest we didn't actually get her permission," I told him. I looked back to the monitors. "She sure is creepy-looking isn't she?" I asked Monk. I didn't actually know, but just from my senses and Ayako's loud opinions I gathered that the doll was definitely, without a doubt, creepy. Plus with all that was going on with the doll occasionally feeling fuzzy, for lack of a better word, I wanted nothing more but that thing GONE.

"I guess," Monk commented. I guess he was used to creepy, being a monk and all. "Archeologists believe that dolls were originally meant as vessels for trapping people's souls. Being soulless and empty on the inside, a spirit could possess them more easily," Monk told me. "So Naru, are we just going to watch this doll all night?" Monk asked, leaning over Naru's chair. Naru didn't answer, instead standing up suddenly.

"Hey, what's up?" I asked. Then I noticed that Naru was glaring at the monitor screen. I saw a faint light to the side of my vision, and turned my head to see a doll face down on the bed.

I distinctly remember putting that thing on the bed sitting down.

"Minnie… No way. She was sitting just a minute ago," I stated out loud.

I got a cold chill, and couldn't move. I heard a little kid's voice talking in my ear. _"Hello miss."_

I tried to say something to Naru, but I couldn't. I was completely frozen, looking at a screen I shouldn't be able to see. The doll started to move down the bed on the screen like she was being pulled at her feet.

_I see you're scared._ The voice chuckled._ Your teammates aren't much better._

I couldn't help but send my faces to 'look' at the others in the room. Monk was definitely shocked, and definitely in disbelief. Lin was unreadable, but if I had to say, he was either calculating or glaring.

And Naru? He was watching the screen intensely, waiting for the next move.

_You should be scared, miss. _

The doll's head disconnected from her body.

_I found you._

I tried to scream again. The doll's head started moving away from its body across the bed, and fell on the floor. It started rolling towards one of the cameras.

_I see you._

The doll's head hit the camera screen.

_And I'm watching you._

The voice went away, and I unfroze, screaming loudly as I did. I clutched my head; I think I feel a headache coming on.

Monk was completely shocked.

Lin was somewhat unfazed.

Naru glared at the screen.

The doll looked back emotionlessly. The image was clear to the rest of them.

We were being watched.

_**BLIND**_

OMAKE:

"You thinking the same thing I am?" Naru asked Monk. Monk nodded, and they both started singing 'It's Five o'clock Somewhere' while getting out vodka and orange juice, making screwdrivers for everyone.

Eh, what can I say, it's already a stressful case.

And before you ask, I don't remember a thing after the second shot.

_**BLIND**_

**Well.**

**Crap.**

**Just realized that I have a doll that looks a lot like Minnie in my basement.**

**Well then.**

**Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Totally forgot to say thank you to the people who told me that they hoped I would heal. Well I am all healed up now, thank you!**

**Although I'm still a klutz, and I get sick really bad when I do get sick, and I am a complete ball magnet, not to mention a disaster magnet…. In other news I'm familiar with hospital beds and nurses…**

**I also totally forgot the freakin' disclaimer. I never owned Ghost Hunt, never will, we done? **

**Oh, in case you might be wondering, I use the English dub for the story. I like both sub and dub, but I feel it seems more natural for me, who speaks English (well, usually), to have them speaking English (although it would probably make my job ten times easier if I used the sub). Plus if I'm looking at the subtitles, I might miss somebody's action or reaction, not to mention background clues.**

… **not that you actually care.**

**Enjoy (I sincerely hope)**

_**BLIND**_

Day 3

I tried to scream again. The doll's head started moving away from its body across the bed, and fell on the floor. It started rolling towards the camera.

_I see you._

The doll's head hit the camera screen.

_And I'm watching you._

The voice went away, and I unfroze, screaming loudly as I did. I clutched my head a bit.

Monk was completely shocked.

Lin was somewhat unfazed.

Naru glared at the screen.

The doll looked back emotionlessly. The image was clear to the rest of them.

We were being watched.

After a few seconds of the doll's glass eye staring us down on the monitor I heard the camera shut off. I raised my head.

"We lost picture," Naru stated while Lin sat up to see if it was the monitor. Monk ran out the door wordlessly to check on the camera-not to mention the doll.

After a moment of hesitation, I yelled "Wait!" and ran to catch up to him.

"No way," I heard Monk say as I was on the landing of the stairs. This only made me run faster up the steps. I came into the room to find the doll sitting just like before on the bed.

"I don't believe it," I told Monk.

"Yeah, it somehow moved back to its original position," Monk agreed

"This is common," Naru said from behind us. We turned around to face him. "Spirits don't care for mechanical devices," Naru said as if that explained everything. He then walked over and picked up the doll and walked out. _Well aren't you just one big bag of helpful…_ Thankfully I already knew that spirits often caused malfunction to mechanical devices due to their own electromagnetic waves. See, I can use scientific terms too!

After a moment, Monk and I followed Naru back to the base only to be dismissed to get some sleep.

I obliged happily.

_**BLIND**_

Day 4

_This is going way too far. Things are getting dangerous. I don't think Ayumi and Minnie should be together anymore._

My first mission was to get the doll back to base and away from Ayumi, who had stolen her doll back who-knows-when. I was about to knock on Ayumi's door when I got interrupted by something.

"This house is teeming with evil witches," a young voice said. It sounded strange, like it had been recorded and played back.

"Even Aunt Nori?" I heard Ayumi ask.

"Auntie is one of the witch's minions," the voice replied. I put my ear to the door to try to hear better. _Who is that?_

"But I don't want Auntie to go, she's my friend," Ayumi responded.

"No," the voice ordered, "I'll get rid of her for you, along with the rest of them. You just need to do exactly as I say, okay?" The voice didn't leave any room for argument.

I opened the door after that, worried about who Ayumi was in the room with. I just found her and Minnie sitting and facing each other. Minnie, while no doubt a doll, still felt a bit fuzzy, sort of like a bad aftertaste in the air. "Ayumi?" I said. "Did I just hear you talking with someone?"

"Yeah," Ayumi said, pointing to her doll.

"Minnie?" I asked.

"There were some other kids too," Ayumi pointed to the door I just came in through. "Huh, I guess they're gone."

_I know I closed that door when I came in._ I realized with a chill. "Well I guess they don't like me too much, do they?" I said. "So tell me Ayumi, how long have these friends of yours been coming over?"

"I don't know," Ayumi answered.

"Would you say Minnie's friends with these other kids too?" I asked.

"Minnie's the one that brought them here," Ayumi answered ominously. I 'looked' over at the doll.

It felt extremely fuzzy, and very ominous.

It almost seemed like it was watching me.

And then I remembered. The voice from earlier, the one that Ayumi said was Minnie, was the same one I heard in my head when Minnie was moving on her own.

_**BLIND**_

"So what's the story on this house? Is it notorious around the neighborhood for being haunted?" Ayako questioned.

"It's the doll we should be concerned with, not the house," Monk said. "You said the kid claimed that it was Minnie that brought over the invisible friends, didn't she?"

"Yeah," I replied softly. I guess I was still a bit shaken up by the doll.

Monk looked over to Naru. "Can a spirit possess a doll like that and communicate through it?" he asked.

Naru stood up so he could talk to Monk properly. "It is a definite possibility. Do you want to try and get rid of it?*" Naru asked.

Monk smirked and replied, "I'd like nothing more than to take down that doll."

And then he left to get ready.

_While Monk was preforming his exorcism, Ayako stayed by Ayumi's side while she slept._

…_I hope this works._

I was in base, 'watching' the monitors. Suddenly, I heard a scream.

It was Noriko.

I ran to where I thought she was. "Noriko, what happened?!" I yelled as I found her on the ground in a hallway.

"My leg," she gasped out, clearly in a lot of pain. Monk, who had been nearby and ran with me to Noriko's aid, bent down to examine her leg.

"Your ankle is dislocated," Monk told her.

"It felt like someone really strong was pulling me by my leg," Noriko told us.

I sent my senses down to her leg. I could tell by the swelling where the bruise was, and how her ankle wasn't quite right. What caught me off guard, though, was the bruise was in the shape of a hand if it had been wrapped around her foot. It was that of a small child's, or better yet, a doll.

It was then that Naru decided to ask Ayumi a few questions. We both went to Noriko's bedroom, and I sat next to Ayumi while Naru stood in front of us both. _Intimidation factor, anyone? The big bad boss is here…_

"Where is Minnie?" Ayumi asked first thing. Big shocker there.

"Minnie's with me for a little while," Naru told her. "Now I need you to tell me all there is to know about your new friends, okay?"

"Give her back to me!" Ayumi ignored him.

"How long ago did Minnie start talking to you?" Naru asked another question, also ignoring her demands.

"Give her back! You can't take my friend away from me!" Ayumi demanded. Naru sent her a glare that, while I had gotten used to it, it scared her.

"Listen, Ayumi," Naru said coldly, "Your Aunt Noriko's hurt, and Minnie did it to her, now talk!"

He even surprised me, yelling at a little girl. She started to cry, and I gathered her into my arms. "I don't believe you! You just yelled at a little girl and made her cry!" I glared at Naru.

"I'm just doing my job, Mai," Naru stated simply, but not as cold as he was before.

"Well you don't have to be so rude," I accused.

"I'm sorry!" Ayumi cried out, interrupting our argument. We both turned our attentions to her. "I'm sorry! Minnie said I wasn't allowed to talk to anybody. She said she'd hurt me if I made any friends! I'm sorry!" Ayumi cried, sniffling through her explanation.

"When did Minnie start talking to you?" Naru asked softly.

"When we moved into this house," Minnie told us before explaining further. Apparently, Minnie didn't talk before that, but that night Minnie started talking to her, saying how Kana was an evil witch and her dad was her servant, and that they were plotting to kill her. However, Aunt Noriko sometimes was, and sometimes wasn't on either side. Minnie kept changing that fact, which often scaring her about how easily Kana could put Noriko under a spell. Minnie promised to protect her, as long as Ayumi wasn't nice to anyone. "Whenever I would forget her promise and play with Aunt Nori, Minnie would break things and mess up the bedroom as punishment. She'd always say 'That's what you get for breaking your promise. Don't try me again,'" Ayumi concluded.

"That is so creepy," I said. I tried imagining what it would be like if I was in that situation.

"And was it around this time Minnie started inviting other friends to the house as well?" Naru asked a now-not-crying Ayumi.

Ayumi nodded. "Lots of 'em. Kids just like me," Ayumi said. "Minnie says that her friends were her servants."

We all ended up back at base after that, looking at the crazy psycho-doll as she sat in the chair. Currently, the doll felt fuzzy to me. I started to wonder what it meant when the doll was fuzzy, but I obviously couldn't actually tell anyone. It would all end up in me admitting that I was blind, and I just wasn't ready for that yet.

"She's definitely causing this. Makes me wonder if the previous owner died of an illness and possessed the doll," Monk stated.

"That thing gives me the creeps," Ayako said as she shivered slightly from across the room, "This is exactly why I've hated dolls since I was a child."

"Minnie is not the one behind this," Naru stated.

"How could you say that after what we've seen?" Monk asked.

"Because the doll is only being used as a vessel," he answered. "There's a restless spirit that's possessing this house. Until we can find a way to discover its true identity, Ayumi is in grave danger."

_Ayumi's in danger? What does he mean by that?_

"Mai!" I heard from outside the door. I ran out and found Kana and Noriko staring at the wall next to the door.

"Look," Noriko pointed to the wall.

On it read 'Bad girls will be punished' in a child's handwriting, written with a crayon.

_Bad girls? Could that be referring to Ayumi?!_

"Ayumi just confessed to me something that she was warned to never speak of," Naru said, walking out to the hallway. "Minnie believes that Ayumi has betrayed her." He turned towards me. "Mai, I want you to be with Ayumi at all times."

I was a little shocked. This was serious.

If Naru was assigning people to watch over Ayumi, she must be is very serious danger.

I couldn't screw this up. I just couldn't.

I nodded. "Right."

I would protect Ayumi from here on until and unless told otherwise.

_**BLIND**_

Day 5

Noriko and I sat together on the porch while Ayumi played in the yard right in front of us. Ayumi wanted to play after lunch and Noriko took her outside, and I of course followed along. I was taking this chance to catch up on writing the case out in my diary.

"Don't worry, they're erasing that stuff off the wall," I whispered to Noriko.

The others had ditched the job of Ayako. I could practically hear her complaining, saying, "I don't see why I have to be the one to do this…" to no one.

_**It's funny, Naru was the one that thought Ayumi shouldn't see what's written on the wall. Does he actually have a sweet side?**_

"Get serious Mai, no way," I said to myself. "Not in a million years."

"Huh?" Crap, Noriko heard me.

"Nothing! Just talking to myself. I tend to do that sometimes," I blushed. Man that was embarrassing.

_**Meanwhile, Monk was busy himself.**_ I could sense him a little beyond actual view, and was, unintentionally, reading his lips. I never could do it by touching a person's lips like normal people. No, I had to sense them. The doctor that insisted I learn the skill never figured it out.

Monk was holding Minnie it what I was guessing was a shoe box, and was chanting again, put the lid over Minnie, then threw the thing unceremoniously into the fire.

_**After that, Minnie was destroyed.**_

"You've been a big help, thank you," Noriko said.

"No prob, I know how hard this has been on you, especially with Kana leaving…" It was true, we found a note from her this morning, saying, and I quote, _I can't stay another second in this creepy house._

"I really appreciate it," Noriko thanked again.

Ayumi then ran up to Noriko. "Auntie? How's your foot doing?" she asked. She was more outgoing and happy now, apparently like how she was before they moved according to Noriko.

"Much better. Actually once you started being friends with me again the pain went away," Noriko happily told her, moving her wrapped foot to demonstrate.

"That's great!" Ayumi smiled. "I'm going to pick some flowers for you." She turned to me. "Do you want to come with me?"

"Sounds fun," I said, getting up from the edge of the porch. We walked over to the flowers in the garden "What kind should we get?" I asked her.

"The prettiest ones!" Ayumi responded like a typical little girl. "Like that one," she pointed to one of the flowers. Ayumi reached over to pick it.

I hoped it smelled good. Hey, they all look basically the same to me, so I usually judge flowers by smell. Same reason why Keiko or Michiru always go with me when I shop for anything, I'll mess up somehow.

Suddenly, Ayumi gasped. "Are you okay?" I asked.

"My hands are stuck!" Ayumi cried, trying to move her hands away. I immediately reached down and started throwing any plant she might have her hands caught on out of the way, then pulled her hands out. I sensed the spot where her hands were.

_There's nothing there!_

Next thing I noticed was Ayumi running off to another part of the yard.

"Mai, go get her!" I heard Noriko yell. I turn to face her. "She's running right towards the pond!"

I ran and followed her. We came a little closer to where Monk was.

"You've got to be kidding me," I unintentionally read from his lips, "I watched you burn myself." Monk was referring to Minnie, who was not only fuzzy again, but lay unburned on the ground, surrounded by ashes. "How in the world did you come out unscathed?"

"Minnie I'm so sorry!" Ayumi yelled behind her, as if talking to someone who was chasing her. That brought me back to the bigger matter on hand. I hadn't stopped running, but I hadn't been able to catch up with Ayumi yet. "Don't be mad at me! Please don't be mad at me!" Ayumi yelled again.

"Minnie?!" I questioned. Did Ayumi somehow know who was attacking her?

We reached the pond. "Please don't hurt me," Ayumi said. She had stopped and now was fully turned around, and slowly stepping towards the water. "I'm sorry!" Ayumi yelled. She put her foot at the edge of the pond, which was surrounded by rocks, then her foot slipped out like she had had her foot pulled from underneath her, causing her to fall backwards straight into the water.

"AYUMI!" I yelled as she screamed and fell in the pond. She disappeared under the water. I quickly discarded my shoes as I ran and jumped in after her. I began sending my senses everywhere to find her. Just as I couldn't sense water, I couldn't sense through it either. "Ayumi?!"

Ayumi bobbed her head above the water, clearly struggling, and sunk back down.

"Ayumi!" I yelled again.

I could hear a muffled 'Help' from under the water, she was in big trouble now. I took the chance and dived under the water, full well aware I might not be able to find my way up to the surface again.

I could hardly hear Noriko scream, "Ayumi!" as I went down.

_**BLIND**_

Ayumi cried into Noriko's shoulder. "Auntie," she cried. She was soaked.

"Ayumi, it's okay, you're safe now," Noriko comforted her. I somehow managed to get Ayumi and myself out of that pond, but now we were both soaked. I was just glad I was alive.

With a slight chill, I felt the need to look over the water.

I could swim, yes, but never have I ever been under water that long, nor saved someone from the water in my entire life.

_Is this the punishment Minnie threatened her with?_

Something glowed on the water's surface, then disappeared. Despite obvious logic, I moved closer to the pond by a step, wary of the slippery rocks.

It appeared again. It took me a second to recognize it, but it was the doll I had seen in the video before.

Minnie. But…. She should still be with Monk! Even if she didn't burn!

She disappeared again.

That confirms that this was Minnie's doing. She's able to drag people under water and almost killed Ayumi.

Minnie means business.

And apparently, her business revolves around Ayumi's death.

_**BLIND**_

Later that evening we had put Ayumi to sleep after cleaning her up and getting her dry. She was exhausted from today's excitement.

"I've decided to move us out of the house," Noriko said, sitting on the bed and looking at Ayumi.

"That's probably a good idea," I said from where I stood next to the bed. Naru was standing beside me and Monk stood off to the side.

"You should know that there are some poltergeists that will follow you regardless of where you may be," Naru advised her.

"Really?" Noriko said in disbelief. I had heard of something like that somewhere. If Naru mentioned it, it means he thinks it may happen, which means this is bad, very bad. "Is there anything at all we can do?" Noriko was definitely desperate to keep Ayumi safe and sound.

"There's no need to panic," Naru said, "I've been doing extensive research on the previous owners of this house. Before you and your family moved in, a family by the name of Watanabe lived here. They only lived her for three years and left due to a job transfer."

"So they weren't driven out of the house by the haunting?" I questioned.

"That's right," Naru said before continuing, "But before them was the Nogi family. They had a nine-year-old girl who died of an illness here. Before them were the Nonama's. Three of their children died here within a six-month span."

"Three of them?" I replied. That's a lot of kids to lose so quickly.

"Two boys and one girl. Ten, eight, and seven-years-old. Two of them were killed in a car accident and the other died of an illness. And before them was the Murakami family who had a fifteen-year-old daughter but she's still alive today.

"If we go back even further we have the Tanaguchi family. During a family visit their ten-year-old niece also died of an illness here in the house. Before that the Ikida family lost their youngest son at seven-years-old, and before them the Tachibana family lost their eight-year-old daughter, so there's a definite pattern here. That's all I could find," Naru told us.

"So almost all the young kids that lived here, died here?" I confirmed.

Noriko started sobbing into her hands. "What am I gonna do?" she cried.

"We're going to call in some more specialists. If you still want to leave the house I highly recommend you wait until they arrive," Naru told her. He soon left the room with Monk, leaving me with Noriko.

After a while Noriko calmed down and I went down to base. Minnie sat in the computer chair while Monk and Naru argued. "It's got to have something to do with this doll!" said Monk, "I've seen this type of case before! A girl who loves a certain doll passes away, then her spirit takes control of the doll and manipulates it to her will."

"I told you before, the doll itself is not the problem," Naru said, turning to look at the doll. "Minnie is being used as a vessel for a sight-bound spirit inside the house."

"I just don't buy it," Monk sighed. Then the doorbell rang, ending the discussion for the moment.

I went to go answer it, and who do I find? John and Masako.

"Hey Mai it's good to see you again," John greeted.

"It's good to see you too, come in," I said, and lead them in.

_**This is John Brown, a priest from Australia, and Masako Hara, a celebrity medium. They joined us to aid in the investigation. John's the only one who knows I'm blind so far.**_

"What is this?" I heard from behind us as John and I started down the hall. Masako had stopped just steps from the entrance. John and I turned back to help her, she seemed sick. "It's horrible; I've never been in such a disturbed house before."

Before I knew it, I was holding her, and by some weird force, she accidentally sent some of her vision to me, and I felt, slightly, what Masako was sensing. The whole place was just… shaking, disturbed, distorted. If I was as strong a psychic as Masako and was getting this vision like she was, I knew I'd be sick too.

I lead her to base after she stopped showing me her vision. I don't think she knows she's doing it, but know she's stopped, and I'm glad.

"It's okay, why don't you sit down now," I told her as we entered, John opening the door for us.

Ayako rushed over to help. "Masako, what happened?" she questioned.

Naru then stepped up to us, probably curious too. Masako looked up at who approached, then over-dramatically fell from my arms onto Naru's chest.

…_HEY, what does she think she's doing? THE HELL?_

Naru simply looked down at the girl holding onto his shirt, not even moving his arms in the slightest. "Are you okay?"* he questioned politely.

"This house is surrounded by the spirits of children. They're all suffering terribly," Masako stated, getting the attentions of everyone in the room. "They just keep crying, saying they want to be with their mothers, over and over again," she looked Naru in the face, addressing him to pay attention too. "I've never seen so many spirits in one house, and they're all innocent children." Masako decided then to officially pass out. I caught her as she fell backwards, supporting her limp body.

"She's fainted!" I said, getting the reply of "Oh no," from somebody.

The next few minutes were spent with Ayako, John, and I trying to help Masako, everyone trying to do something and I making sure we opened the window for her, at least, she needed air, now.

There goes our psychic medium.

_**BLIND**_

"Our Father, who art in heaven, hollowed be thy name. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. May God bless your soul," John said over the girl as she laid in Noriko's bed. She wore a cross around her neck. "For the time being I've offered up a prayer. Your niece will be safe for the next couple of hours," the blonde exorcist told Noriko. At least he had no misgivings about his abilities as a priest against whatever it was that threaten Ayumi.

"Thank you Father," Noriko bowed. The woman now just wanted her niece safe and sound.

John nodded then turned to me. "Now then Kazuya I'd very much like to see this-" he was interrupted by the door opening. Monk stepped through the door.

"Naru, I can't find Minnie anywhere! It's like she just completely disappeared!" he shouted.

"So she's run away, has she?" I said. I figured as much would happen. The doll was a vessel, and this spirit obviously wasn't going to give up any time soon. "Don't worry, she'll turn up soon." There's no way Minnie would leave Ayumi alone, she'd have to show her face eventually.

I simply hoped it wasn't after we find Ayumi dead.

_**BLIND**_

It was almost two am, and Minnie had yet to show up. All the boys plus myself were in base. Masako was still unwell and Ayako watched guard over Ayumi with Noriko. Yep, I was deemed no longer able to protect Ayumi properly as the ghost was obviously didn't care if Ayumi was being watched or not, so someone who could protect her from attacks better, in other words Ayako, took over. I stared at one of the computers that monitored the sound. I wasn't even sure if it was on or not. I just stared. Everyone was just staring at the monitors and computers. Silently waiting for something would happen. Something had to happen soon.

We hadn't been able to find Minnie yet, after all.

The clock struck two and at that exact moment, the activity started.

"We're picking up some noise from the audio feed," I said bluntly. I could tell it was the audio feed-it was slightly static and it was coming from the computer I was previously staring at.

"Patch it in," he ordered. Lin got to work, and we could hear distinct moaning and crying, and some knocking sounds had been added in.

Now, we could hear it around us too. The noises kept moving about, randomly it seemed. But it wasn't random. It was _searching._

"Sounds like children," John inputted. "Dear God… There's so many of them." I could see where he was coming from with that. I had already heard Naru's research on the house, unlike John who hadn't, and how many died, but I was still shocked at how many kids have died in this house, and can't move on, so John must be more than a little shaken.

"Do you think they're looking for Ayumi?" I inquired.

"John's prayer is having some effect," Monk said, "Perhaps a kukkai barrier would help as well."

I turned to face Monk. "A kukkai?" I questioned.

"It's a special charm that's used to thwart any spirits from entering," Monk explained simply, screams echoing around us.

Then, it all stopped.

"It stopped all of a sudden," I stated the obvious.

The door clicked open, revealing a frantic Ayako. "Naru I found Minnie, look!" she exclaimed, carrying a bundle in her arms.

Naru took it and we gathered around. He pulled down the cloth and sure enough-there's Minnie. We all gasped. This damn doll…

"I noticed a bulge under the covers at the foot of Ayumi's bed and sure enough the doll had found its way in there," Ayako explained. We stood there in shock.

"Is Ayumi alright?" John questioned Ayako, breaking the partial silence.

"She's fine," Ayako confirmed.

_Those voices stopped at the exact same time that Ayako found Minnie._

This was getting really, really bad. Considering we already dealt with a kitchen fire, an almost drowning, and a doll who apparently do whatever it wants and not even get scathed when set to flames, that was saying a lot.

If we didn't do something soon, Ayumi would pay the consequence.

_**BLIND**_

Day 6

John was blessing Minnie, taking a crack at getting the spirit out of Minnie. Minnie, in turn, was fuzzy again, like bad reception. We were in a storage room, we being Naru, Monk, John, and me, so that no one could interrupt. Mainly Noriko or Ayumi, however unintentional it may be.

Minnie lay on the table in front of us, a cross placed on the table near her head, as John recited from memory his prayers. He then placed his head on where her forehead was, supposedly, and revealed a cross when he moved his hand back. To me, it started to glow, and it felt hot like a fire.

Minnie's eyelids shot open.

Naru stood, unaffected as always, and Monk took a step back in surprise, but kept his composure. John, surprisingly, seemed that he had expected this to happen. Just what exactly did he do when he wasn't in a church? I, on the other hand, squeaked and clenched onto Monk's arm, just like I did on our first case a couple of months ago.

I clenched onto Monk for two reasons. One, that was scary. Dolls can't open their eyelids on their own. I shouldn't be surprised anymore on what she does, but still. Two, it appears I'm having another vision of sorts. I determined earlier today that, if at all possible, to avoid the creepy visions. It didn't feel right, being blind and all, to randomly see stuff then go blind again.

It gave me a headache.

John took out a vial, and unscrewed the cap. He put his thumb partially over the opening, and started making the figure of the cross with the water that splashed out, reciting his prayers again. _Holy water_ I realized, remembering that when he did an exorcism at the schoolhouse he had water like that before he almost got smashed with a falling ceiling.

Minnie started to shake, like the spirit inside her was fighting it. Actually, it was fighting it. And the cross was white-hot and seriously seemed like it should be burning the doll through by now, smoke should be everywhere. I don't remember this in the descriptions of exorcisms!

Then, I heard screaming. It sounded like a little girl. Why weren't the others reacting? I'd think that Monk would have a reaction at least!

I tried to block it out.

"…and the Darkness comprehended it not." I heard John say as the screaming stopped. Minnie also stopped thrashing about. The doll was now just that, a doll. The cross was dimming now, and smoke now rose from around where it lay. It fell off, revealing a burn mark of the cross on the forehead of the doll. The whole room had a fuzzy afterfeel to it, like what Minnie felt like when she went fuzzy, only scattered around the whole room.

The cross now disappeared completely from my sight.

"I believe the spirit has now been cleansed," John announced, "though that doesn't mean it has been destroyed." I faced the doll in wonder. After all that, the spirit could still be out there?! John started talking again and I faced him again. "I think it would be best for us to burn the doll so it can never be used for evil again." Agreed completely and totally. I hated that thing. And just try to sell it and explain the burn mark. _Yeah, it once held an evil spirit and had to be exorcised. It won't happen again…. Probably._

_**This time, Minnie burned easily, Monk, John, Naru, and I as witnesses.**_

_**BLIND**_

"I believe Minnie's true identity is the spirit that haunts this house," John said. It was just the guys in base again, discussing the case. "Do you think it could be one of the children who died here?"

"There's a good chance," Monk responded. "The spirits were probably lonely by themselves so they try to bring over children that inhabit the house and befriend them. Those children become sightbound spirits as well."

"Why is it just the children?" Naru questioned.

"Huh?" Monk didn't quite catch on.

"if they were lonely, why not choose Noriko or Mai, someone who could act as a substitute mother. However for some reason Minnie was attempting to eliminate them. Why do that?"

The door opened and Mai walked in. She gently closed the door behind her before turning to the rest of the group.

"Mai, how's Miss Hara?" Naru asked her. Mai had said she was going to check on her a while ago, and was just now coming back.

"She's still not feeling too well," Mai sadly reported, her face showing that she was concerned.

"I see," he responded. The activity must be a bit much for Masako, with so many kids pleading for help constantly.

Naru sat down in one of the chairs. "Monk, I'd like you to try cleansing the house again," he said.

"You sure?" Monk replied curiously. Naru started typing onto the computer in front of him.

"The first to die was Yuki Tachibana. Here's her info and posthumous Buddhist name. she was of the Judo sect." he responded, moving the screen so Monk could see it.

"How'd you find that out? Those records are over seventy years old." Monk questioned.

"It was rather easy," Naru responded vaguely, then got up and walked over to Lin. "Let me see the records up till now," he requested.

_Boy, you really are sure of yourself, aren't you Naru? _thought Mai. _… you damn narcissist, you better know what you're doing!_

_**BLIND**_

"I thought you said that ghosts can follow us, so will we really be safe in a hotel?" Noriko questioned Naru. After all, not even two hours ago he told her that she should head with Ayumi to a hotel.

Naru held out a piece of paper with strange writing on it. Ayako had made it earlier. "This charm will protect you, just to be safe I'm sending Father Brown and Ms. Matsuzaki to stay with you," Naru assured her. Noriko took the charm firmly into her hands.

"Thank you," she said. She just wanted this over with and done.

Ayumi turned to me. "Mai are you gonna come with us?" she asked.

"I can't, I'm sorry," I told her, and watched them pile into the car and drive away. Naru, Monk, and I stood in front of the door, and Masako, who was starting to either feel better or was getting used to the spirits, stood with us.

"is it working, Miss Hara?" Naru questioned. The whole reason she was out here was to make sure it was working. If not, Monk had the keys to the van.

Masako looked about, seemingly looking for any spirits rushing off after the car. "The spirits have yet to notice," she reported after a minute, "it appears as if the charm is working well."

"Alright, let's get back to work," Monk said, stretching tiredly. Time for another exorcism.

_**BLIND**_

Lin, Naru, and I were at base, and Monk sat in Ayumi's room, dressed in his Buddhist clothes again.

"Monk, you ready?" Naru asked over the audio system.

"Ready as I'll ever be," was Monk's response. I heard him shift around before he started chanting again. I quickly droned him out. None of it really made sense to me.

Nothing really big yet. Maybe this would be peaceful?

Probably not, wait a minute and we'll be screwed over against ghosts… again.

"The temperature around the bed is starting to drop considerably, it's already down two degrees in the last minute," Lin reported.

"And the audio?" Naru questioned. This ghosts _did_ have thing for loud noises, after all.

"Nothing to speak of at this point, although I'm not getting the usual static," Lin told him. We stood there quietly for a few more moment before Lin spoke up again. "I'm picking up something else now," he held his headphone closer to his ear, "Knocking sounds."

Then it started again. One of the screens were lighting up on me. Strangely it was the living room, and was that…?

"Naru, look!" I couldn't hold it in.

"What the…?" Naru saw it too. The lens in the living room was fogging up. "Lin, give me the temp in the living room," he ordered.

"It's currently at negative two degrees," Lin rattled back the info.

"it's dropping?" Naru grabbed the mic that was connected to the camera in Ayumi's room. "Monk we've got you in the wrong room. All the activity's coming from the living room," he told him hurriedly.

"What?!" Monk quickly rushed to the living room.

"Naru!" I yelled to turn his attention to the screens again. Now the monitor was filling with images of crying children, their faces stuck in strands of smoke, all of them crying again.

It was horrible.

"Woah, what the?" Monk yelled when he got into the living room. Funny, now I could see a man, who I guessed was Monk, on the screen, and I was too busy being scared to even think about the fact I was seeing a live person while still awake for the first time in _years_. "I've got multiple apparitions in here!" Monk yelled, waving his arms about to keep them at bay.

I was seeing a PERSON! HOLY…!

Monk straightened up and started chanting again. He was starting to seem a bit, well, pissed, really. He opened his eyes for a second and I could clearly see his brown eyes staring at the screen, then he closed them and began his chanting again.

His eyes are brown, and his hair light brown. Nice to know.

The children started screaming louder. _They're in pain! Monk's exorcism is hurting those poor children…_

As if to verify that, they screamed louder again.

_I can't take this any longer!_ I hid my face in my hands to block the images, something I never thought I'd ever do since I became blind. It was too much! I could barely take the screaming, but their faces…!

"…Tomiko…" I heard faintly over the audio. Something compelled me to look at the screen again. _What was that?_

…I'd seriously never survive a horror movie. There, behind Monk, was dark foggy figure. I was sure it said something a moment ago.

"Tomiko," I heard again, more clearly this time. Tomiko? The figure was starting to solidify into a woman. "My child," she pined. Naru obviously saw her too. He certainly wasn't expecting it either. The woman opened her eyes, which glowed against the dark fog she was surrounded by. "Tomiko," she said, her voice now extremely dark.

I couldn't look away.

_**BLIND**_

Omake

"Ayumi just confessed to me"-

"Hold it. Another fangirl, really Naru? She's not even ten!" I yelled, then ran off, mumbling about child protection laws and such.

"Mai, she hasn't confessed her love, it was something else," Naru yelled after me. I stopped and turn around.

"You say that like she will or something."

"Have you seen Noriko's room recently? "

In the meantime, Ayumi now added her seventh, and biggest, picture of Naru to the+ wall, it alone taking up about three or so feet of space and continued sowing her little Chibi Naru doll. Suddenly, she sneezed. "Guess someone's talking about me…" she said in thought, then continued her sowing.

Mai peeked in her room, glanced at the doll, and walked back out. "I may not be able to see the walls, but I have a hunch it may be Naru on those papers… And you'd think she'd hate dolls now…"

_**Hi, what's your name? **_ Mai heard through the door. Another spirit's voice, like Minnie's, but this was a little boy.

"Great, what did I tell you?" Mai mumbled, ran into the room, and took the doll. "MONK! WANT SOME TARGET PRACTICE?" she yelled, looking for the man and running through the house while Ayumi simply huffed and started another doll.

"She's just jealous, I'll make you perfectly, Chibi Naru the Second… or are you the third? I think one of you may currently be at the bottom of a pond…"

She sneezed again, sighed, and looked around for more black fabric. He seriously needs some new colors.

"AYUMI!"

Crap, got caught again.

(Sorry, couldn't resist. You can tell me how stupid it was. I acknowledge that I should seriously get more sleep at night.)

_**BLIND**_

**Yay translation notes! Fun, as always. **

…**but I swear, Naru has some of the worst English ever… for a character of his status, at least. No offense to the voice actor... But it gives me great hilarity. I feel like an English teacher correcting his/her student as I retype what he says so it can be all proper.**

*** Well, Naru definitely asked Monk "Do you wanna try and get rid of it?" instead of "Do you want to try and get rid of it?" but this IS Naru, so I changed it. Go back and watch if you want to, the moment is around 4:58.**

***Naru says, originally, "You okay?" instead of "Are you okay?" …and I was fine with it. But when I typed it I had a nagging feeling to change it, and eventually, as you can see, I listened to it. Happy, subconscious? I blame eighth grade English, I had a strict teacher.**

**As always, thank you for reading! Leave me your thoughts so far, I'm happy to get them!**

**OH! Almost everyone can't wait for the reveals. I will tell you this, for the most part each person finds out individually. Maybe. I hope?**

**But anyway, even though I have several ideas for each, I am so up for suggestions, both for reveals or the story in general. Even if I don't use the idea, I get ideas from other ideas. It's all a cycle, see? Plus I love hearing what you guys imagine happening next. It makes the whole thing come alive. I won't beg for it, but I would appreciate it if you do. It makes me happy to interact with you guys. –on that note, sorry it took so long to reply to some of your reviews. I love talking to you guys, but I just didn't get a chance to get on fanfiction and reply. Forgive me- **


	6. Chapter 6

**It pains me so to see that my brother doesn't believe in ghosts. I mean, it would be chill and all if he hadn't seen a video that he recorded on his own phone of an apparition of a transparent fox running across the ground and disappearing into thin air. Plus the fact either of us might have some sort of psychic ability (no matter how null) doesn't help. Nor the fact that my house is possibly haunted.**

**Did I mention I live near a graveyard?**

**Meh, but I don't want to sound nagging about it. I just felt like getting that off my chest to the people that will -most likely- believe in the paranormal. **

**On that note, I've been reading through the original series, translated. It's so freakin awesome, but when I go to reference something I want to know more about in the paranormal field, I find that Ono Fuyumi-sensei rrreeaaallllyyy did her research. There's also more info in general in the novels (which was kind of obvious, but still, there is) and I feel so informed now…**

**I might add a few elements from there to here, just to inform you guys.**

**I'd also like to point out that in the novels Mai calls Naru a bastard…. A lot. And to his face. She really is fearless. She also curses really badly in her subconscious, it's so funny, considering how sheltered things are here…**

**As always, enjoy, I don't own Ghost Hunt, have your protein, and take LOTS of naps.**

**PPPPSSSSTTT- the Ghost Hunt manga has a sequel! It's called Akumu no Sumu le**

**Only a couple of chapters though, sadly, but it is amazing! Go check it out! It gives a subconscious hope for another season…. Though I guess they'd have to make the Forgotten Children case and the lake and all of that jazz into a movie, so it would transition easier…. Eh, just ignore me and my fantasies…**

**HAPPY READING!**

_**Diary entrees look like this**_**.**

_**BLIND**_

July

Day 6

In the background of the monitor, behind Monk, stood a dark, shadowy figure of a woman. Her eyes glowed against the rest of her, and I couldn't look away, no matter how hard I tried.

"Monk there's something behind you," Naru yelled. The mics patched it over to Monk, and he stopped his chanting and looked behind him, straight at the shadow woman.

"What? There's nothing in here Naru!" I heard Monk say. I gasped. I was literally BLIND and I could SEE the woman, and yet he, who has practically perfect vision supposedly, can't see her when looking her in the FACE?!

"Damn, I guess he can't see it," Naru cursed. … Thanks for stating the obvious, Naru. Aren't you a genius?

I ran for he door-if Monk can't see that thing, he needs to get out of there, fast.

"Mai, wait!" I heard Naru shout behind me. I ignored him and rushed out of base. … I never said I was a genius like him. Smart, but not a genius.

I ran straight to the living room, and opened the door to find the whole room glowing with streaks of white ghosts everywhere. At this point, I stopped caring when these things showed up, and would probably freak out later. "Monk, look out!" I yelled at the figure.

"Go, right now!" Monk yelled as soon as he noticed me. I turned my attention behind him.

… Nothing. Why oh WHY did I expect something? Stupid stupid STUPID!

"But, we can see the ghost on camera!" I yelled, well, at least Naru and Lin can. I still don't know what to call it when I see a monitor light up.

"Don't just stand there Mai, get out of here!" Monk yelled again when I hadn't left the room.

"Come quick you're in danger!" I yelled, taking a few steps forward. Well, I think that goes without saying when you go ghost hunting, but we need to get out!

I felt a chill go through me, or rather, it passed through me.

_No one can interfere with me! _a raspy voice said, practically into my ear.

Then, I felt hands on my neck, choking me. I grasped at the invisible hands to no avail. Suddenly I thought of Kuroda and her story from the old schoolhouse about getting choked.

Can't breathe, can't breathe!

Thanks, karma, but I wasn't the one who made fun of her, dammit! I can't breathe!

Monk seemed to notice my struggle, or at least the ghostly hands around my neck, and rushed over.

"Mai!" he yelled, before chanting his mantra again, warding off the hands. I gasped for breath, coughing as Monk came up to me. "Mai, Mai are you okay?" he asked, grabbing my shoulder.

Just dandy, just got choked, no big deal. Sarcasm, anyone? Instead, I simply muttered a weak "Yeah" in response.

"Come on, let's go," Monk said, and started leading me out. I grasped my neck slightly, it still hurt a little.

Then, we heard loud thuds behind us. We turned around. What we found made us gasp.

A large hole was in the middle of the room.

_**BLIND**_

"Looks like the house was built over this well, must be pretty old," Monk said, kneeling beside the thing. Naru, Ayako, Masako, Monk, John, and I were circled around the well later that day.

"There's the spirit of an Oshima here…" Masako said, hiding her mouth behind her kimono. "She's lurking deep down inside the well, calling to the children's spirits and pretending to be their mother. The children only want to return home. They're lost and can't find their way out."

"Is Minnie there too?" I asked, staring down into the well. I couldn't actually see it, but the well was relatively deep… I turned to Masako when she began speaking again.

"Minnie, who is actually Yuki Tachibana, acts as ringleader of the children, but in reality, she is so much pain and sadness that she just wants all of this to stop," Masako informed the group. I turned to the well again. I could practically hear the children crying from down there.

It was… disturbing.

"It appears to me that this well bores deep into the earth, and at the very bottom lie the spirits of the children, trapped in the dark," Masako said as she stared down into the well.

"Who is this Tomiko?" Naru questioned her, leaning against the mantel.

"It's Oshima's child," she turned her attention to Naru, "She's looking for her child. Tomiko is her daughter, that's why she's gathering the children."

"Now we're getting somewhere," Naru said. He started walking to the door.

"Naru," I questioned as he walked past.

"I need to take care of something," he responded nonchalantly.

"Naru! Don't leave yet!" I shouted.

He simply let the door close behind him. Jerk.

"Naru! Where are you going? Why does he do this every time?! It's starting to get old!" I yelled at the door. Seriously, he just goes and disappears, AGAIN.

"He does that so often I just expect it now," Monk commented. "How 'bout we work on driving out the spirits until he gets back?"

"You're right," I said. Naru'll be back eventually. "Okay, guys," I turned to Ayako and John, "who wants to go?"

John made a curious noise-he's confused. Geez, this guy's seriously 19?

"Which of you two is up to the challenge?" Monk smirked largely. "I'm warning you, it's intense in there."

John seemed to get it now. They both looked at each other, and John gave a hopeless expression to Ayako. Ayako sneered. "Fine, I guess I'll do it, but if I go one of you 'brave' men will have to watch Ayumi for me," she said, and I could practically hear the quotation mark around 'brave'.

"Sure thing," said Monk.

"Of course," John shyly said.

_**BLIND**_

She began her exorcism around the time of sunset.

"May the heart of this house be cleansed…" Ayako began, holding her stick-and-paper thingy again.

_Ayako is so lame, the only reason I'm here is because she was scared, and she calls herself a spiritualist?_

I suddenly gasped and sat straight up.

_I just felt a chill, where could it have come from? _I checked left and right. The windows and doors were all shut. Then, that just leaves…

The well. The foggy streams started to appear again, this time I didn't see them, rather sensed them. It felt like condensed fog…

Ayako simply kept praying, calmly either ignoring the streams or not noticing them.

Then, a large, house-shaking thump resounded throughout not only this room, but no doubt the rest of the house too, cutting Ayako off in the middle of her sentence. We searched around from where we sat for a source as footsteps started resounding around us.

"What did you stop for?" I accused. She's supposed to be a shrine maiden; she shouldn't be affected by this that much!

"Take it easy," Ayako was about to begin her prayers again when she gasped loudly, and curled herself slightly to her right side.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"I just felt something touch me," Ayako said shakily.

"You need to stay focused," I said sternly. "You're a professional, remember?"

Then, something grabbed my ankle, sending chills throughout my whole body.

"Mai, what's wrong?" Ayako turned back to look at me.

I took a few shaky breathes-the thing still had my ankle! I wasn't a professional, I don't know how to handle this! "I can feel a… a hand on my…" I didn't to finish my statement as I was suddenly pulled by the icy hand across the floor-straight towards the well.

"HELP!" I yelled, dragging one hand and foot across the floor trying to slow myself down as the other foot was dragged helplessly and the other hand stretched out to grab something-anything that could stop me!

"Mai!" Ayako yelled, and started to get up from the floor.

"I can't stop!" I yelled, sensing back to well again. It's getting closer fast!

"Mai!" Ayako yelled again as Lin burst through the door, undoubtedly having seen what was happening from base.

"Taniyama!" he yelled and ran to try to catch up.

"HELP ME!" I yelled. I don't care at this point the man still probably hated me-I was being dragged by the FOOT by an INVISIBLE FORCE towards a freakin WELL!

"QUICK, grab my hand!" he yelled, extending his arm really far to try to grab mine.

I reached as far as I could. Almost got it….!

With a shriek, the hand tugged even more forcefully than before, pulling me out of Lin's reach…

And straight down into the well.

"MAI!" I heard Ayako shriek before it all went blank.

_**BLIND**_

I could clearly hear a drop of water splash on what I guessed was more water. It echoed, like the inside of a well…

… Birds? I could hear birds… chirping happily. It felt warm, and I opened my eyes to find that I could see. _Another dream, I guess. No way I'd be able to see otherwise… _I couldn't sense anything, and it made me a little cautious.

As I blinked away the fuzziness, I found myself staring at a wooden ceiling. I scanned the room, finding the wall, looking down it, then getting to the floor and examining the rest of the room. It was a tradition Japanese-style room, sliding door and tatami mats and everything.*

The whole room was pretty big, but something was off…

… Shouldn't there be more color than this? Everything was a muted color, like when I watched an old fashioned film from before I became blind.

"Where am I?" I asked out loud as I sat up. I looked around more. The birds kept chirping throughout the whole scene, giving it a surreal and calm feel. I found that when I looked at myself, I was more brightly colored than the rest of the scene. Weird…

Then, I heard a light thump. I turned to look behind me to see the door leading outside left open, and out in the yard a small girl in a kimono was playing with a ball. She faced away from me, so I couldn't see her face, but I could tell she was about eight, give or take a year or two…

_That's not Ayumi…_ The girl's hair was short and styled like Masako's, while Ayumi's hair was quite long, and so far Ayumi hasn't worn a kimono so casually like this girl was. _Who is that?_

Then, a man came up to her. Again, I couldn't see him clearly, but he obviously was talking to the little girl. _No, get away from that man!_ The girl was being lead off by the man, carrying her ball under her arm. _I don't know why but that man is dangerous! _I couldn't find my voice as the pair disappeared beyond into the horizon. _No! Stop!_

"Tomiko!" I heard a woman's voice yell as a shadow appeared in front of me. The scene changed, and I could see a woman in a kimono running off, searching in the now dark scenery. The serenity from before was gone. "Tomiko, Tomiko!" she yelled more.

… _Is that the girl's mother?_

"Tomiko!" she yelled again before stopping suddenly. In front of her- er, us?- there was a pond, just like the one in Noriko's backyard. On its surface, the ball that had belonged to the girl floated, seemingly innocently, but held a much darker meaning. When the mother saw it, she gripped her head and screamed. "NO!" was her distressed cry.

I looked away; the little girl was gone now, forever. It wasn't right to look. I looked to the side to see the scenery change yet again. The woman from before stood, gripping the edges of a well. She was crying, and I heard as her tears hit the water. It was the distinct sound I heard before I started this dream.

Then, as I looked at her stare at her reflection at the bottom of the well, I realized what she intended to do. "Don't!" I yelled as I ran forward a few steps before someone grabbed my arm. I looked back to see the guy from before, all in black. _You again… does this mean something?_ He had a sad look on his face, and didn't say anything as he shook his head 'no'. The meaning was clear-I couldn't do anything.

"Tomiko…" the woman's voice whispered. I looked back to see her throw herself down the well. _Don't do it!_ I tried to yell, but I still couldn't find my voice.

Next thing I knew, it was blank again.

_**BLIND**_

This time when I opened my eyes, I was greeted with a familiar darkness, and my senses blearily making out the things in front of me. I was at the bottom of the well, laying on the boards that had previously fallen down. How did I get here again…? It's all blurry.

"Mai," I heard from the top of the well, "are you hurt?"

"Ayako?" I asked warily as I sat up. Yep, there was Ayako, carefully leaning over the top of the well, watching me. Did I fall unconscious, and she watched to see if I would wake up? _Of course you fell unconscious you idiot! Maybe Naru's right, I do lack in brain capacity._

"Oh thank goodness you're okay, Mai!" Ayako sighed. "Just sit tight, Lin's coming right down to help you," she said as Lin, almost on cue, appeared with a rope.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I was dragged down into the well…" I remembered as Lin came down on the rope.

Soon enough, I was out of the well and in base. Ayako checked me over while Lin watched the both of us. We were the only ones there. Ayako had just finished checking my head as I started to tell them my dream. It seemed important enough to mention.

"Really, a kidnapping?" Ayako asked as she was about to put a bandage over my knee.

"That's right," I said shakily, "at least I think so." I didn't trust my voice, it felt ready to give out. Guess I screamed a bit too much earlier… "It was a vision. A man just strolls up to the girl and then walks away with her, so that's why I believe her mother threw herself down into the well."

"Hmp," Ayako replied. "You have no experience as a medium so how could your dream possible hold any weight?" she said, putting the bandage over my scrapped knee. "There," she said as she hit my knee to put the adhesive in place.

"Ow!" I yelped, "That hurt!"

"Surprisingly enough, I think she may have hit the nail on the head," Lin interjected.

"Wait, so you agree with me?" I asked excitedly. Lin didn't like me, was this a sign?

"I wouldn't go that far, but it is a possibility," he said. Well, there goes that. I sighed, at least he listened.

I laid down on the couch after that. Ayako had told me to rest up, so I would.

I heard myself sigh as I put my head on the pillow. _I know that was no ordinary dream. It seemed so real. And that guy showed up, that must mean something!_ Next thing I knew, I was asleep.

_**BLIND**_

I woke up, again, to a light-filled world, and there, in front of me, was Mr. Shows-Up-Randomly in all his dark-dressed glory.

_Hey you, who are you?_

He smiled. _Now this is a dream I've had before… back in the schoolhouse when the shoe shelf fell on me…_ I still was laying on the couch, but the rest of the base disappeared. I faintly noted that, once again, I couldn't sense my surroundings. It didn't bother me this time.

"So you again… Ayumi, you really think we can save her before it's too late?" I asked. It felt like the right question to ask, even though I barely knew him.

"She'll be fine," he said softly.

"Really?" I smiled. _You're right, as long as we do our best, everything will work out._

"Are you sure that's a good idea Naru?" I heard faintly. Was that Monk?

I sat up, wide awake. I was blind, again, but my senses were now alert after the nap, and I found Naru to be taking off his jacket. _He's back!_ _…wait, why am I so excited about that? Whatever!_

"Lin, play back everything you've recorded thus far," Naru said, leaning over Lin's chair a bit to look at his computer.

"Right," was Lin's simple reply as he started typing into the computer, I guess to pull up the video files? I was never good at computers.

"Hey Naru, you're back!" I happily walked over to them, feeling better than before.

"Yes, thank you Mai I knew that already," Naru's voice dripped with sarcasm and a tone that said 'You really are an idiot'.

_Why can't he ever act that guy in my dreams. They have the same voice, that's HAS to mean SOMETHING, right?_

Then I noticed something. "What are…" I started.

"Hey," Monk waved. Next to him was Masako and Ayako, and next to Masako was John.

"What do you mean 'hey'? Aren't you two supposed to be watching Ayumi?!" I questioned Monk and John. "She could be in danger right now for all you know!"

"Naru said there's no use guarding her anymore," Monk replied lightly.

"So we came to help!" John added in.

"Wait," I turned to Naru. "Are you positive that she's okay?" I asked. No way would I let that creepy ghost get Ayumi!

"She's fine," Naru said confidently. "Everything will be over tonight."

Everyone stood in shock for a moment before Naru had us up in gear again. We formed a semi-circle around Naru as he gave us orders.

"Ms. Hara, can you see what the spirits are doing?" Naru asked.

Masako concentrated for a moment before replying. "They're in the living room. There's no indication that they've gone to the hotel yet," she reported.

"Matsuzaki, start making charms that will stop any spirits from passing," Naru held out papers for Ayako. "I want the rest of you to post them throughout the house. We're going to raise a kukkai in here."

"Care to fill us in on the plan?" Monk asked.

"I'm planning on returning Tomiko back to her mother," Naru said simply. Wait, what?

Everyone collectively gave out confused explanations. "That's impossible Naru," I pointed out.

"Tomiko cannot be returned physically. Her mother will continue to haunt this place until we can at least create the illusion of her return, so we'll need a substitute," Naru said ever so slightly cryptically.

I thought for a moment. "You don't mean Ayumi, do you?" I asked. The others seemed to think the same thing. But, he said illusion… But how does he plan to do that?

Naru gave an answer a few moments later. "The problem lies with the woman. If we leave here without removing her we'll have failed," he said with his head lowered and eyes closed.

"Yes but this woman is dangerous," Ayako interjected. "She nearly killed Mai an hour ago when she pulled her into the well. I think at some point we need to start considering our own safety."

"I guess, but what about Ayumi?" I asked her. Ayako didn't give an answer. John wouldn't look at me. I turned over to Masako and Monk on my other side. They both seem to be thinking. "Come on guys…" I turned away, dejected.

"I must say I'm disappointed in all of you, I expected much more," Naru's condescending tone cut through the tense silence. "If you can't even think objectively, then I don't need you."

… Harsh.

"The risks are high!" Monk butted in. "If we screw this up our spirits could be trapped here as well!" Naru finally raised his head and opened his eyes to look Monk in the eye as Monk glared at him.

After a moment Naru blinked while turning and walked forward. "Whether or not you want to participate is entirely up to you," he said as he headed for the door. "Mai, you're free to leave as well."

"Naru…" _Like hell I'll leave behind my own boss! We're friends, well, sorta, right?_ Naru left the room without answering with Lin in tow. We all sighed as the door closed behind them.

"Oh, you poor thing Mai," Ayako said, "he's quite a handful, huh?" _You have no idea…_

"If Naru is prepared to go that far then there's at least a chance of success," Masako stated. _Why is she so pro-Naru all of a sudden?_

"I trust your judgment Masako, and if you think we should then let's do it," Monk chipped in.

"You sure?" I asked.

"Well at this point it's the only option we have," Monk replied.

"I agree, I think it's a good plan," John said.

_They're right. Naru isn't someone who would just give up his life or others needlessly. I shouldn't doubt him because when it comes down to it, he definitely knows what he's doing._

Ayako sighed loudly. "If you all end up dead I'll see to your funerals," was her reply.

"Ehe, well how nice," I nervously replied. That settled this then-we would help Naru to the end.

_**Just like Naru told us, we began putting up charms all throughout the house.**_

"So, what exactly is the purpose of putting these charms everywhere?" I asked Ayako. Somehow, we had all ended up in the hallway at the bottom of the staircase, near the front door.

Ayako turned and said, "It's simple-"

"To keep spirits from leaving the house," Naru interrupted from behind us. He was on the staircase, at the end of the landing.

"Naru," I noted in surprise.

"Be aware that we'll be leaving the demongate open to distribute the spirits," Naru informed us before walking down the staircase.

"Oh, just get off it," Ayako stated. "Why does he always act like a big shot?"

Me and Monk ended up answering at the same time, "Because he's Naru!"

Ayako simply huffed, her posture and face clearly saying 'Good point'.

"Uh," I turned to Monk, "Did he say demons gate?" I asked warily. Demons were NOT what I signed up for.

"No, _demongate_," Monk stressed the word. "The northeast quarter. It's the easiest direction for spirits to pass through."

"Monk and Matsuzaki, guard the demongate," Naru ordered when he got down to us. "When the spirits exit , scatter them as best you can."

"So we'll be reducing the number of spirits temporarily to draw the woman out?" Monk asked.

Naru ignored him, probably deeming it obvious, and turned to John. "John, I want you to cover the living room and do the same."

"Piece of cake," John said cheerily.

"Wait, hold on a second, then who's going to conduct the exorcism?" Monk asked.

Monk, Ayako, and I all ended up with the same conclusion at the same time. "You don't mean-!" we questioned him.

Naru simply smirked.

_**BLIND**_

That night you could find Masako and myself in the living room, sitting on the floor behind John in his exorcist robes. Naru leaned on the door calmly. Masako held onto my arm timidly for support as the well innocently seemed inactive.

John grabbed his cross before pulling his holy water out. He started to splash it about as he began his prayers. It had begun.

Masako gripped my arm more tightly as he spoke. "Something wrong?" I asked her.

"Cleansings are addressed to the spirit directly to help them with issues they've had in their past lives," Masako explained. "Only a medium can be successful at it." She turned to look at Naru, who simply stared at the well, likely either oblivious to our conversation or ignoring it. "Naru is no medium, so he plans to perform an exorcism."

"What's the difference between an exorcism and a cleansing?" I asked. I honestly wasn't clear about that part.

Masako turned back to me. "In a cleansing you try to persuade the spirits to change their ways. In an exorcism the goal is to destroy or kill the spirit outright," she explained.

"That's horrible," I said. No spirit I've ever heard of deserves that.*

"I wish he wouldn't exorcise her, at least, not in my presence," Masako said, eyes downcast.

_Interesting. To Masako, spirits and human beings are one and the same…_

I literally got jerked out of my thoughts by something grabbing my wrist and pulling me forward a good bit. John looked back to check, and even Naru looked my way.

"You okay?" Masako asked, arms stretched out to help me if needed. I straightened back up.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said._ Something yanked on my arm. Out of all the people in here, why me?_

Mist started to form on the floor, and it was getting colder by the second. You could hear voices within the well. John quickly got back to his prayers, now holding his bible.

Apparently, the ghosts didn't take too kindly to that. White ribbons seemed to appear out of the well. Wait… Dammit, I'm seeing things again!

"Ms. Hara, how about now?" Naru ordered.

"They're attempting to escape," Masako reported, her eyes darting this way and that, "Their numbers are beginning to drop rapidly. They're trying to get out of the living room, and they're crying!"

"Hey wait, why don't you go ahead and cleanse the children's spirits right now?" I asked.

"Impossible," Masako stated, "not as long as the woman spirit is here!" Suddenly, she gasped, and looked at the well in slight fright, clasping her hands over her mouth.

"Hey, what is it?" I asked before looking at the well myself.

"She's coming out!" Masako said, her voice terrified. John and I both gasped at her statement. Even I, who definitely isn't skilled in being a medium at all, could feel that something was about to happen. Naru didn't gasp, but he did look ready for action.

We waited in anticipation. Masako was clutching my arm again, and was slightly shrunk behind me_. Hey, isn't this supposed to be the other way around? You're the medium!_

A drop came out of the well as if the well was upside down and we were at the bottom. A very familiar sound of water dropping rang through the otherwise still room. The woman's tear… she was here.

A shadowy figure came out of the well, much like the one that appeared on camera during Monk's exorcism. This time, though, we could all see it clearly. Hell, even I could see it somehow.

"Tomiko," the woman's voice rang clear. It was dark, and full of malice. She only halfway lifted her head towards us. "Tomiko," she said eerily.

I gulped. _Those eyes…!_ They didn't even look human anymore!

"Tomiko is not here!" Masako said bravely. "These children do not belong to you! Please set them free! Can't you see the pain they're suffering? They just want to return to their real mothers! Let them go!" Masako gasped again.

The woman had ignored her, mostly, but she did send out a bunch of creepy arms out of the well.

They crawled out slowly at first, then went straight towards us. John stood in front of us, holy water in hand. He ended up getting pushed across the room.

I got up quickly. "John!" I yelled as I rushed over to help him. I could see the woman's eyes shift over to the last remaining member of the room, Naru. He simply stood there, staring her down, arms crossed. He straightened up and started walking right towards her.

"Naru! Just give me another minute! Please! Don't!" Masako pleaded.

"Naru, wait!" I tried to get him to listen.

He ignored us, stopping right in front of the spirit. "Your child is right here, look," Naru held up a wooden figure doll. _What is that?_ "Take the children you gathered with you, and leave this place!" he yelled before throwing the doll in the air.

The woman kept her gaze on the doll as it went up, and suddenly, I could see a bright golden light right where the doll was. The light turned into a vision of a little girl. _It's the girl from my dream!_

The little girl held her arms open to hug her mother, and the woman held her arms open in anticipation. When the two touched, the woman went from having a dark presence around her, to glowing in the same glowing light as she embraced her child. _What a warm light. It's so beautiful._ I didn't remember seeing many things before my accident, but I truly don't remember seeing anything so beautiful and warming as this light.

"Look Mai, right there," Masako said. I knew what she meant. The children from before, who all had been in pain, went from having the same dark glow as the woman had before, to glowing with the same light that now enveloped the whole room, and they were laughing. Then, with one final glow, they all disappeared.

Throughout the whole incident, I could only tell the others were in the room because my senses said so. Even with all that light, I hadn't seen a single shadow or dark outline of a person. I wonder why…

"They're all gone now, they've been cleansed," Masako announced officially, breaking me from my thoughts. I smiled, and so did John. It was wonderful.

I then turned my attention to Naru, who simply stood at the same place he was when he threw the doll, not even turning towards us. Typical. But, even though you couldn't really tell normally, my senses betrayed that his muscles were relaxed-he was relieved.

_**And with that, another case was solved.**_

_**BLIND**_

Day 7

"You have no idea how grateful I am for your help," Noriko said as she and Ayumi stood side by side in the house. We had called them back, and now we were getting ready to pack up and go. "I just heard from my brother, and he said he'll be returning as soon as he can."

"Oh that's great news!" I said cheerfully. This whole time I hadn't seen or heard anything from this guy.

"Are you sure it's safe?" Noriko asked Naru. "I mean, you're sure you got rid of all the ghosts in the house?"

"There's no need to worry," Naru said plainly.

Just in case, we had observed for the rest of the night after the cleansing and all morning after for activity. Naru gave the all-clear around noon, and Noriko and Ayumi came back. I hadn't noticed before, but the blobs had apparently gone with Ayumi when they left, and had been watching her. Even the one that stayed near Naru nearly at all times had gone. When they came into view, I got greeted by one hitting my forehead. Lin gave me a strange look when that happened, but I just brushed it off as the one that sorta liked me made itself home above my shoulder, making my hair swish every now and again.

Soon enough, we were outside, and Monk was helping put away equipment. "Last one," he said as he slid a monitor in place, "We're set to go!" He closed the back of the van and turned towards the rest of us. John and Masako had already left, leaving Ayako, Monk, Naru, Lin, and myself still in the driveway.

"Naru, what was that little thing you gave the ghost?" I asked curiously.

"It was a hitogata," Naru answered.

"What is that?" I prompted for a more detailed explanation.

It was Monk that answered this one. "It's the original form of the straw ethigy dolls. It's made by carving a piece of paulownia wood into the shape of the person you want to put a spell on," he explained.

"You dummy, that's how you put a curse on someone," Ayako smirked.

"Spell-casting has both a light and a dark side," said Naru. "A light spell helps the person, while a dark harms them. Often the casting has a combination of light and dark sides."

"That's right," Monk nodded, "It's just like in esoteric Buddhism, where either approach can be used to confound a sworn enemy."

"The hitogata is simply a vessel used to contain a spirit," Naru continued. "For example, let's say I patterned an ethigy doll after Mai." _Hey, why me? _ "If I were to damage the hitogata, Mai would be harmed as well." I grabbed my shoulder- I swear I just felt a chill! "That's how close the ethigy is to the real person."

"So that one was…" I questioned.

"Made for Tomiko," Naru replied.

"Of course," I realized, "since she thought she had retrieved her daughter Tomiko she was cleansed because her wish had been fulfilled." Naru simply nodded.

"I gotta say, I'm impressed you made a successful hitogata that quickly. Is that why you left earlier?" asked Monk.

"The date of Tomiko's birth and death were necessary for the ethigy to be effective," Naru said. _Wait, you didn't comment on the compliment… You're such a narcissist, shouldn't your answer be different? Does that mean you didn't make the hitogata? If so, then who did?_ "The woman was Oshima Hiro, and Tomiko was her only child," Naru pulled me from my thoughts as he spoke. "The girl had disappeared one day and her body surfaced from the pond about six months later. A couple of years after that, Oshima's house was demolished. The house before us now was built in its place."*

"Tomiko," Lin stated. "Do we know if she was kidnapped?" _… Eh? He's bringing that up?_ His expression didn't give anything away. "Is that why the mother threw herself down the well?" I turned from Lin to Naru to gauge his response.

"There was no mention of a kidnapping," Naru stated. He turned to look at the house behind me. "The important thing is this house is free of spirits."

_I wonder… were you planning on a cleansing from the very beginning Naru?_

Soon enough, Naru climbed into the van, the blobs all rushing in after him and Lin. I would be riding back with Ayako and Monk.

"I never would've pegged him as an onmyouji," Monk said is slight admiration.

"Onmyouji?" I said questionably.* "Do you mean like that Abe guy?"

"Fashioning a hitogata after Tomiko and cleansing the mother is pretty complicated," Monk explained. "Only a pro could pull that off." _Really? I'm pretty sure he just tossed the hitogata to her and she got cleansed…_

"It's amazing, isn't it? With how young Naru is," Ayako commented.

"Amazing?"

"Well, it's definitely cool."

"Hmp."

"Hey Mai," I turned to find Ayumi standing behind me.

"Hey," I greeted, "what's up Ayumi?"

"So do you think…" Ayumi looked a little shy, how sweet! "we'll see each other again?"

I giggled. She really was adorable. I crouched down to her level. "I'll tell you what," I said, "if you ever need me, just call."

"Ah, you promise?" Ayumi happily asked as she held her pinky out to me.

"Promise," I said with a laugh, taking her pinky in mine.

_**At the end of the day, I'm just happy Ayumi is safe.**_

I finished writing down in my diary as Monk pulled out onto the road. Before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. What I woke up to was not pleasant.

Monk had a very serious expression on his face. Ayako was nowhere to be seen-I guess he already dropped her off. In Monk's hand held my diary, and it was opened to the page that introduced John, the one where I said I was blind. "Mai," he said calmly, obviously holding back quite a bit, "we need to talk."

_**BLIND**_

**Thank you lovelies! Please don't kill me for the cliffie….**

***For those unfamiliar with tatami mats, they're basically a type of flooring-rug thing that's made of straw or something like that. You can also measure using tatamis. I forget the exact measurements, but I think it's two or three feet by six feet. Or I completely fail and that's wrong. If so, correct me and I'll fix it. Anyway, for example of measurement, it mentions in the novels that Mai's apartment is a traditional Japanese apartment that has a six tatami room. I won't go into details for the apartment-I'll probably mention it later on. You should know what a sliding door is-it's a door that slides, and is very common in Japan. I think.**

***Haha, just you wait Mai… Let's see, the spirits from Yasu's school case, and Urado, and of course the demi-god thing, those are very good examples of spirits that deserve an exorcism. She'll change her tune pretty quick about it soon enough.**

***Because of spelling, I had to go through the subs for the last part of the episode. Then I noticed in the sub and the dub that Oshima Hiro wasn't switched. Just thought that you might enjoy that fact. So I think the last name is actually Oshima, not Hiro. But what do I know, eh? Maybe I'm wrong.**

***Thank you Ariana Taniyama for correcting my spelling of onmyouji!**

**I once again request you send suggestions for the reveals. I want to know what you guys want so I can make you happy!**

…**Please? And also leave comments on what you think of the series and what you want to happen and such. I want to know what people want from this, but I am (sadly) not an over-the-Internet-telepathic-psychic. It actually would be really weird if I was.**

**ANNNDDD you have no idea how happy I am that I am through the Dollhouse case. I don't really like this case that much… sorry. It just… Bores me to tears? I don't know. Or maybe I just don't like Ayumi's English voice…**

**Fanfiction Suggestion!**

**(I decided to start this since, well, I suck at updating)**

**Here they are- A little one shot called 'And Lin's Just Like Uh I'm Gonna Keep Typing' by Goldfish-Con-Carne, and 'The Transfer' by Malindorie**

**I do NOT own either. Geez, what do you take me for, someone who suggests their own fics? If you have a Ghost Hunt fanfic that you'd like me to suggest, tell me and I'll check it out (although I suggest using a PM for that rather than a review). It has to be a Ghost Hunt fanfic…. That's really the only requirement.**


	7. Chapter 7

**So, this is a filler chapter, but it does have importance. The next chapter will start the case. I originally thought of doing my own case here, but each time I tried to think through the cases it ended up revealing more of Mai's powers and such, which they don't know much about. So, after much debate and reading through a lot of ghost stories (Japanese or otherwise), I decided on this.**

**Thank you Ariana Taniyama for correcting my spelling! Much appreciated.**

**Um, enjoy, and sorry this one is sorta short-this is actually my shortest chapter yet…**

**I don't own Ghost Hunt.**

**HAPPY READING!**

_**BLIND**_

September

Thursday

Day 1

I was tired. I had had the weirdest dream last night. Something about dogs… or was it students? A school…. I didn't know, it was really weird, and I remember crying when I woke up, but I don't know what made me cry. I didn't remember the dream in the slightest.

Regardless, I dragged myself out of bed, went to school, and went to work, taking my homework with me on the off chance that I finished early and could work on it. Hardly seemed possible, but just in case, right?

I was working on filing (which is about all I do) when I heard an irritating order from behind the CEO office door. It was a simple phrase, a simple order, but somehow… It has come to piss me off on my worst days.

"Mai, tea."

_Damn him and his obsession with tea._ The order had come from one Kazuya Shibuya, or in other words, Naru the Narcissist. He's my boss. I groaned and got up to go to the kitchen to make his tea. I seriously have never heard of anyone who drank as much tea as he did. Keep in mind I helped out at a tea shop with my mother when I was younger. The only time I got this many tea orders in one day from a single person (not from a whole shop-THAT is ten times worse, believe it or not) was when some English guy came by.

Ah, yes, The English Guy.

He had only stayed about a week, but stayed in the tea shop almost the whole time, apparently working on some paper or something on his laptop, and conducted interviews from where he sat. The only reason the owner didn't complain or make him pay for using the shop as his impromptu work place was because he ordered, drank, and paid for so much tea in a single day that the owner didn't even care. I never did figure out his name (which is why he was deemed The English Guy by me), what he was writing, or what he interviewed about the whole week he was there because he always stopped what he was doing whenever I came by with his tea.

Oh, yeah, somehow it had turned out that _I_ made most-if not all-of his tea that week. I didn't officially work there, but the owner _did_ pay my mother more when I worked, so I learned how to make Japanese _and_ English teas so that I could be of use no matter the order. That week happened to be during summer vacation, so while I was there all day, the two others who could make English tea really well left for a vacation. So, it became me who made his tea and delivered it to him. When we found out he only ordered English teas, I just went ahead and went out there to get his order. He found it adorable when I came out with his tea, so I ended up occasionally talking to him about Japan, and in turn he told me about England. I never saw him after that week, but he did give little eleven-year-old me English currency-one euro to be exact-before he left. I've kept that euro in my 'treasure box' that I had at the time, and still have somewhere in my apartment.

Hmp, it couldn't be Naru was somehow English, right? Yeah, right, he doesn't s_eem_ English-his eye shape gave that away. Maybe he studied abroad there and picked up the habit? He was certainly smart enough… Ah, but I shouldn't ask. I just felt like that might be bad. He _was_ school aged. If he had been studying abroad in England for whatever reason, something bad might have happened to make him come here. Eh, so shouldn't he be in school then?

I came out of my thoughts when the water was finished heating with a shriek. Soon enough, the tea was ready to be brought out to my narcissistic boss.

I put the teacup on the server tray and walked out of the kitchen. Knocking twice on Naru's door, I waited for a response.

"Come in, Mai," I heard Naru reply. He only knows it's me because I wait for a response unlike the others, who either only knock once and come in anyway or don't knock at all. I came in and put the tea on his desk. Naturally, he was reading a file. We actually got a lot of cases, but Naru only takes cases he's interested in. The fact that the cases are usually nothing more than some bad pipes or something doesn't help. That's why I have so much filing-I have to file each complaint in their folders, or reorganize the bookshelves (how they get messed up anyway still confuses me, but once I ended up reorganizing an entire shelf of books that somehow got into the kitchen- it didn't help that they were all in English), or my most recently added task of serving tea to Naru.

"Is there something you need?" Naru asked, making me realize I was just standing there spacing out.

"OH, uh, nothing! Sorry." And with that, I left his office.

_**BLIND**_

Friday

Day 2

I walked into the sitting room just to find another stack of books on the floor. How did it even-? You know what, never mind.

I set my things down and I walked over to the pile. Something was off… well, more than the stack of books coming off the shelf, that is. Then I noticed something. These were the same books from the time I found a shelf-full in the kitchen! _They're in the same order as last time too…_ Grabbing a notebook off my desk, I decided to just take note of the order they were in, in case it happened again and I was right. I copied down the English letters the best I could before calling Naru in to help me.

He took one look at me, then at the books before sighing. This actually happens a lot, although usually it's more than one shelf and it's a lot more hectic, and we can't figure out why. Or at least, I can't and if Naru knows something he won't tell me. Naru has had to help me, seeing as my English skills are less than par.

Speaking of Naru… "Mai, tea." Yep, there it is. Resigning to my fate, I went to the kitchen_. Time to go get Master Narcissist his tea... _"Mai, you're thinking out loud again."

_Damn!_

"No use in cussing."

I grumbled, and this time made sure my mouth was shut before thinking obscene thoughts in my head.

_**BLIND**_

Saturday

Day 3

This time when I came in, Monk was in the sitting area with John. I greeted them and got them something to drink as I went to get Naru his tea. For whatever reason, the two of them met up here every Saturday. This started after Monk found out my little secret.

Ah, yes, my secret. I've been blind since I was little, but I don't act like a typical blind person might. So for the most part, I can keep this a secret. In my work portfolios, I just put down to check through my medical records if need be. Therefore, I avoid breaking the law AND directly telling that I'm blind to my employers. Usually, they check within a month and I get fired, but either Naru hasn't done so or just doesn't care. Although, I'd think he'd have at least mentioned it if he knew…

Ah, well, back to my secret, John knew almost immediately when the principal of my school accidentally told him during our first case together. Monk, on the other hand, is a completely different story…

_Monk had a very serious expression on his face. Ayako was nowhere to be seen-I guess he already dropped her off. In Monk's hand held my diary, and it was opened to the page that introduced John, the one where I said I was blind. "Mai," he said calmly, obviously holding back quite a bit, "we need to talk."_

"_Uh…" I was trying to think of a response, but it wasn't working. Then I realized… "Hey, YOU READ MY DIARY!"_

"_No, I didn't," Monk said, still very serious. "It dropped to the ground when I opened the door. It just so happened to open to this page." He took a deep breath. "Why didn't you tell us?"_

"_Ah, well…" Well, no use in lying. "I never said I could see, you came with that assumption yourself,' I defended._

"_Mai."_

"_Right, anyway, I haven't been able to actually 'see' since I was really little. I got into a bit of an accident-"_

"_A BIT of an accident? A bit of an accident doesn't blind people, Mai."_

"_Ah, right, sorry. Anyway, I became blind because of it. But, I've never really had trouble with it, really." Monk only stared, so I kept talking. "I can sorta… um… sense… the things around me. I think it's just, you know, adaption, or something. I can tell where you are, and stuff, but as to what you're wearing…" I trailed off. _

_Monk seemed to soften a bit, not by much, but a bit. "So, what, shouldn't you tell Naru? Your BOSS?'_

_I cringed. This is what I hated about being lectured; the guilty and gut-wrenching feelings you get from the other party involved. "I never intended to," I said honestly. "Usually on applications, I just say to look through my medical history for any problems. My mom actually taught me that not because I was blind, but because she did the same thing. You never know what will be written off as 'major' or 'minor' in a business, ya know? And when Naru first made me work for him, I thought I was only temporary."_

"_Temporary? Why?" Monk was softening up a bit more. Now he was still upset, but a bit more understanding._

"_Ah, well, remember how Lin came in with a crutch?" Monk nodded. "That was sorta my fault. He pushed me out of the way of a falling shoe-shelf locker thing. A camera got broken in the process, so Naru basically hunted me down and made me work for him." I paused to think for a moment. "Although, it probably wasn't that hard to find me," I admitted._

"_Eh? Why?" was the curious response._

"_Well," I grinned, "he met my friends and me the day before. We were telling ghost stories and he came by and scared us to death and back! With only the word four, too…"*_

"_Four?"_

"_Yeah, long story, anyway, he was smiling. He had his Prince Narcissistic Charming façade on, and it totally worked on my friends."_

"_What about you?"_

"_I wasn't impressed. Now that I think about it, I practically kicked him out of the room. Only, naturally, he didn't leave, and when he DID it wasn't before leaving with Keiko and Michiru's contact information and arranging to come by the next day to tell ghost stories."_

"_Wow. Really?"_

"_Yep. However, he got out of the whole ghost stories mess when Kuroda came into the classroom. I tried to leave early since I had definitely had a bad day, Keiko and Michiru tried to convince me stay for 'that cure senior'-AKA Naru-, Kuroda blamed us for giving her a headache by calling in a bunch of ghosts to the old schoolhouse, and then Naru found me and somehow got me working as his assistant."_

"_Hmp. What did he do with your friends' contact info?"_

"_Well, I think he kept it, at least for a little while, because he called them to ask about the old schoolhouse and Kuroda."_

"_Eh? So they have his contact info?" Monk asked incredulously _

_I laughed. Yeah, right. And I was a twenty-year-old man. Ha. "No, Naru was sneaky-he either used the office phone or a payphone because when Michiru tried to redial him it just went to a busy signal."*_

"_What about your other friend, um, Keiko was it?"_

"_Hm, she had someone call her immediately afterwards, so she couldn't." _

_Monk whistled. For a moment, we were both silent. "So, you really are blind?" he said, bringing us back to the original topic._

_I nodded. "Yep, I am."_

"_I see…" he muttered. I glared at him slightly. "Oh, sorry, my bad." I nodded slightly before realizing-Monk still had my diary!_

_I quickly grabbed it and stuffed it into my bag. Monk blinked a bit, processing what just happened, then laughed as I glared at him again._

"_So," a playful smile came onto his face, "what color is my hair?"_

_I smirked, recalling from the vision I had at the monitors his hair and eye color, as well as the rest of his face. "Light brown."_

"_WHA-" He huffed. "Okay then, my eye color!" To add emphasis, he put his eye to my face and pointed at it. _

_I giggled now, closing my eyes as I answered, "Brown."_

"_Wha-, okay, how'd ya know?" Monk pouted._

"_Well," crap, I didn't think this through! "I had a vision when your exorcism was going on. I could see you in the living room, ya know, on the monitor screen," I confessed. "I've had a few visions like that… I don't like them much. It's just too… weird, I guess."_

"_Hm," Monk seemed to be in thought. "Maybe you're a psychic?"_

_I just stared at him with unblinking-not to mention unseeing-eyes._

"_I'm serious!" he defended. More staring. "Ugh, have it your way. I won't tell Naru about the visions. It would mean me telling him you're blind."_

_I smiled. "You really won't tell?"_

"_Nope," Monk smirked. Uh oh. "You're going to tell him."_

_I wilted. There's no way I could-! Just-! NO!_

_Monk looked at me for a second before sighing. "Look, I won't make you, it's your choice as to when, but you HAVE to promise to tell him," he said._

_I held out my pinkie childishly, like Ayumi had done only hours earlier. "If you promise not to tell ANYONE, I promise to tell Naru someday, deal?"_

_He smiled and shook my pinkie with his. "You are such a child."_

"_I'm young, what's your excuse?"_

"_HEY NOW!"_

And with that, two people on the SPR team knew.

Also from that day came Monk's favorite game- the 'Hey Mai, what's this?' game. It can be anything from the color of the object to what the scene in a picture is. Monk, for whatever reason, finds it to be the most amusing game ever.

I didn't quite share the same sentiments.

"Hey Mai, what's this?" Monk held up a picture. John just sighed-he understood what it meant when Monk does this, and he gave up trying to stop him long ago.

"Um," I tried to guess by using the texture of the inks and the thickness as a guide. No luck. "I… give up."

"It's a picture of everyone!" Monk said happily. I looked to John for verification. Monk liked to try to fool me, so John verified for me. John nodded in confirmation. "Here," Monk smiled as he handed me the picture. "You can put in your diary, if you want."

"Monk," I replied as I grabbed the picture, "you realize I have practically zero use for this, right?"

"Well, you never know. Maybe your friends or family will want to see your coworkers someday," Monk argued. John just nodded along, silently agreeing.

"They might get worried about you hanging out with people they don't know much about," John pointed out.

I just sighed-no use when they both double-teamed me like this. I just put the picture in a safe place in my bag until I went home.

"Mai, tea," came Naru's order from behind his door. I groaned. Seriously, how has he not died of tea overdose?!

_**BLIND**_

Sunday

Day 4

No school for the day should equal no worries, right? Psht, I wish!

You see, one of my classes has a huge test coming up. Like I've said before, I'm pretty smart (at least I think so), but I'm no genius like Naru. So, although I'm pretty confident, I'm trying to study when I can.

It so happened that I got my work done early. Heck, I even went Naru AND Lin to see if there was a fluke in the system. Alas, there wasn't, and Naru, funnily enough, told me to go study so I could 'at least try to shape up my school record'. So, study I did.

I was halfway through one of the study worksheets and some of my notes when Naru called for tea. I got up to get him some when I saw Ayako and Monk walk in. Huh, what are they doing here? I offered them something before going back to kitchen. _It's three now, isn't it? Where' s the tea- Ah, Earl Grey, here you are!_

I delivered Naru his tea (and once again got no thank you-honestly, I know it's my job but he can at least _pretend_ he has manners of some sort) before heading back to the sitting room with iced coffees.

The sight before me was pretty laughable. Some of my worksheets had fallen on the ground, apparently, and Ayako and Monk stood there, noses scrunched up as they tried to go through it. "Having trouble, you two?" I asked in a sweet voice-an obviously fake one, but that was sorta the point.

"What on earth are they _teaching_ you?" Ayako gaped, looking up from the paper. I walked up to them, putting the drinks on the coffee table on the way over, before walking behind her to check which worksheet she had. I giggled when I saw it.

"Ayako, that was one of my review worksheets from the beginning of the year," I said 'innocently'.

"The beginning of the year?!" Ayako yelled. "What about the one Monk has?"

I checked Monk's. "I'm pretty sure that was the first assignment I had," I scoffed. Ayako looked over at the paper in Monk's hand. I sighed before grabbing the most recent worksheet I had, the one I had been going through before Naru had called for his tea. "Here, this is what my next test is on," I said as I held out the paper to them. Monk grabbed it while Ayako looked over his shoulder.

"What the-" Monk said, his expression confused.

"How do you even answer that?" Ayako questioned out loud.

I grabbed the sheet again. "Which one?" I asked. I had no idea which one they had been looking at.

"The third one," Ayako exclaimed.

I looked it over. Oh. "That one's easy. You take the squares and, using the property of-"

"Don't actually answer it, Mai!" Monk groaned. "You'll make my head hurt."

At some point in time, Naru had slinked his way into the room. "You know, they say that what one generation learns in their freshman year of high school could have once let someone graduate from college," he said.

"Are you implying that I'm old?" Ayako said in a threatening way._ Yes, because that TOTALLY works on Naru…_

"I'm not sure if he is," Monk said deviously, "but I'll say it outright, old hag."

"What did you say?!" Ayako yelled.

"Should I spell it out? Okay, grannie, I'll go slow for you. Y-O-U, you, A-R-E, are, O-L-D, ol-"

"I wasn't actually asking, you old apostate monk!"

"Then why'd you say anything?"

I just gathered my school stuff and headed to my safe haven whenever this two got at it-the kitchen. Oh, the death of feminism. Whatever, I needed silence. "You know where to find me," I said as I passed Naru. He smirked before slinking back into his office, just as silent as when he came in.

He did manage to yell, "Stop using my office as a café!" before going completely into his office.

For once, I couldn't agree more.

"Tea."

Nevermind, the moment's gone.

_**BLIND**_

Monday

Day 5

No one likes Mondays. No one. Not me, not my classmates, not Naru, and definitely not Lin.

You only try to talk to him Monday once before learning there is at least a six-foot boundary around him at all times at the beginning of the work week. It doesn't matter that the office is open every day (and therefore, there's really no difference between the days if you're not in school like me), it must be inbred into everyone's brain from their school days, and no one has the 'Mondays should just burn into ashes' inbred and carried to a T like Lin does. On cases, he's fine. Office hours? Don't even joke about it.

So, when Lin decided to make tea in the kitchen, Naru was forced to wait another few minutes than usual for his own tea. It didn't even look like Lin noticed me as he left the kitchen and mumbled his way into his office. When I did get Naru his tea, he didn't even look up from his papers as he took a sip, not even a condescending glance at my lateness.

"Lin?" he said knowingly.

"Lin," I nodded with a sigh.

_**BLIND**_

Tuesday

Day 6

Tuesday was, for whatever reason, usually our busiest day. Sundays were our least busy, seeing as you either were desperate, lived a while away, or came from a school if you came to Shibuya on a Sunday. It was more than a little nuts going through there. Tuesdays, on the other hand, were our busiest, and also the day we got our wackiest requests.

For instance, I'm giving tea to a woman who claims -and I kid you not- that her left foot is the cause of a poltergeist in her house. Yes, you read that right. Her left foot. And based on her description of the 'poltergeist', it's just some loose wires and some regular house maintenance that needs to be done.

I don't know how he did it, exactly, but Naru somehow got her out. If I had to say, it was him calling Lin in and asking about how you would go about amputating a psychic foot-with a saw, a scalpel, or a butcher knife?

Sometimes, I think Naru is secretly a sadist towards the clients we don't take. Then I realize if I put the first three words plus the word 'secretly' out of that sentence out I have my answer.

_**BLIND**_

Wednesday

Day 7

Ah, today. Such a good day.

See, most people judge weeks by Sunday through Saturday, and that's usually how I do it. However, since I started (officially) working at the SPR office on a Thursday, it came to be that I based my workweeks Thursday through Wednesday.* It seems weird, but that's how my brain decided to go about it, and trying to break the habit doesn't work.

So instead of it feeling like the middle of the workweek, it feels like the end to me. As such, I am unnaturally happy on these days. Secretly, I think it sorta makes the guys of the office-meaning Lin and Naru-go out of balance a bit.

"Mai, tea."

"Okay, boss!" I said cheerfully, practically skipping to make his tea.

I quickly made and delivered his tea and left without a word to return to my filing.

Huh, maybe this is why I hate making tea on Thursdays-it's my version of a Monday.

Later that day, I realized I get the most tea orders on Wednesdays. No small wonder on that-Naru's going to take advantage of a good mood if he can. Yet I'll still be happy today, grouchy tomorrow, Monk and John will still pop in once a week, and Lin should always be avoided on Mondays.

Then, as I came out of Naru's office, it happened again. The damn books were everywhere! Not in a neat pile like the last time, no, I'm pretty sure on of the books is in our official fake office plant. "Naru!" I yelled to get his attention. He came out, saw the room, and sighed.

Well, time for work!

_**BLIND**_

***I'd like to point out that, in Japanese, the word for 'four' and the word for 'die' (or was it death?) are exactly the same. Many-a-pun and many-a-legend are born from this, BUT it sometimes doesn't quite translate well…**

***I actually have no idea what happens if you call a payphone, but an office phone usually has lots of calls or has a filter for the calls (or redials), so usually you get a busy signal if you call at the wrong time. For the sake of simplicity, we'll act as if calling a payphone gets a busy signal and Naru (or more likely Lin) put a filter against redials.**

***Let it be known I have no freaking clue what day of the week Mai started working for SPR. I just decided on a random work day, and started from there. Originally it was only going to be a day, but that obviously didn't work out. I then considered changing it to Sunday through Saturday, but I liked the structure of this chapter as it was, plus then the conversation between Monk and Mai would get pushed to the end, and I liked where I put it. So, it stayed like this.**

**I can't even fathom how many times I typed 'Mai, tea." Sorry if it gradually got on your nerves, but it was to show that Naru drinks a lot of tea-and makes Mai irritated at times. Which is why she bothers him for a thank you. Plus her duties are filing (which is mundane and automatic, which is why it's not mentioned that much) and then tea orders come sporadically throughout.**

**So, anyway, tell me your thoughts so far if you want. And I will always look at your requests-this is for you guys, not just myself ya know! So I will listen. No pressure if you don't have anything-I just want to know what you guys might put in yourselves.**

**Hey, here we go again! Fanfic suggestions!**

**Here's the first one-**

**Rumor has it by Annie Sparklecakes**

**And the second-**

**Haunting life by mytruthaboutlife**

**I don't own either, got it? Like I said, I don't suggest my own fics. However, if you want to, don't be shy about suggesting one to me (and if possible, in a PM instead of a review). The only requirement is that it's a Ghost Hunt fanfic.**

**Remember that there about 2,318 or so fanfics out there, and I have a literal list of fanfics, so if you don't see yours immediately, do not fret! In the next few chapters I should have it out there. **


	8. Chapter 8

**AHHHHHHHHGGGGGG!**

**I FINALLY UPDATED!**

**NOW YOU WON'T KILL ME!**

**Hehe. Actually, I have several reasons why this is so damn late.**

**Let's make a list!**

**-Exams**

**-Corrupted Files**

**-ANOTHER corrupted file**

**-Teacher drama llamas**

**-Oh lookey here, a corrupted file!**

**-A computer doctor appointment (and all that jazz)**

**-Exams are coming up fast…**

**-So is my history project that I haven't even started yet**

**-And of course, to top it all off, me having a little, er, 'rage fit' as I am going to put it, and running off to some of my other fandoms for a while to just chill out and stuff. And now, I keep thinking about crossovers, even though I already have two stories on here and who knows how many on my computer…. I just needed an… animavacation. **

**But now I'm back, hopefully swinging, I guess, and so, here.**

**I don't own Ghost Hunt. What gave you that idea?**

**OH YEAH! Before I forget, part of the reason I got to writing again was because of tumblr! So now I have one… yeah… so basically I'm informing you of my newest website craze… But anyway, I considered for about… three seconds about making a tumblr for SabastianScott. I laughed it off, but then I lost (another) bet and now I have to tell you guys about it. AND, if enough people would actually be interested in that, I have to make it. So… if for some reason you are… PM me or leave me a comment. (I feel so weird about this-I usually don't like telling people about things like this. But like I said, I lost a bet, and I'll admit, I'd probably have fun with it…)**

**Well whatever.**

**I'm going to apologize ahead of time-I have a lot of stars (*) on here (yes, I know they aren't called stars. I also know that I don't care). That's because I'm using the book right now, and since I don't wanna get sued, I have to use them.**

**Enjoy! **

_**BLIND**_

November

Sunday

I come here to the office and do paperwork. I've organized the old issues of a Psychic Research Magazine by date. I'm always assembling things, registering things, transcribing table of contents, and ordering books. In other words, I do manual work. I guess the level of my job will only be this high. And now, we're not doing any ghost hunting. Because now things are moving slowly, and there's no other way to go about doing this. But every day, I continue to do who knows how much meaningless work.*1

Even when it's slow, though, we still have clients.

_She came to see us on a Sunday in November…_

I set down the tea in front of our client. "Here you go," I said to the skittish girl. Making tea had become one of my office tasks, and so I started making some for the clients if they seemed nervous.

"Thanks a lot," she said after giving a slight jump.

"So you're saying," Naru turned our attention back to him, "your friend has been acting strangely ever since using an Ouija board at school." He was a bit grumpy. He had been pouring over a map all day, _again_. That always makes him grumpy without fail.

"Yeah," she said shyly, her hands fisted nervously in her lap. "She'd jump up onto her desk in the middle of class, and in gym she was eating sand from the sandbox." I thought about how bad the sand must be at my school, and gave a slight 'ick' sound. "I know it sounds crazy, but I really think she might be possessed by a fox. Can you help her?"

Naru sat there for a second before replying. He set down his notebook and said, "You should take your friend to the hospital," he stood up from his seat, "Your friend needs a doctor."

"But, Naru, wait!" I said as he left the room in favor of his office.

And naturally, he ignored me. If he so deems it, he won't listen to a word I say. Especially with the face he pulled as he left the room. He makes that face, and my words fall upon deaf ears.

I tried to explain how SPR works to the distraught girl WITHOUT making Naru sound like a completely horrible person-which wasn't an easy task after he brushed her off like that-, and I ended up writing a report to go into filing. It wasn't the ONLY report I had to write recently, either. In fact, I had three on my desk. One was for an exorcism, one was a poltergeist, and the last was the one for the fox spirit. This wouldn't be so bad if they weren't for the _same exact place_.

Yuasa High School. An all-girl private school. A friend from junior high goes there, and she told me that it's supposed to be a strict school. It wasn't the best academic girls' school around, as it was quite lenient with grades, though. _Huh. My school isn't lenient in the least! Well, it's also co-ed…._

Sometime later, though, my _wonderful_ director came back out of his office and into the sitting room. I guessed he was taking a break from his maps.

Break or not, I'm giving him hell.

I slammed my hand on the table. "Why did you treat her like that?" I questioned.

"All I said was that it sounded like her friend needed a doctor's care," Naru brushed it off. This stupid narcissist bastard…!

"You could've at least been nice and referred her to someone else!"

"Knock knock!" I was interrupted by a man with short-ish hair coming in through the door. And he was…. A cowboy? With glasses… Holding… a guitar case? Or was it a bass? "Hey Naru, what's up!" he said informally. _So Naru __**knows**__ this weirdo? Well, it's Naru-I shouldn't really be surprised._

"Uh… who are you?" I asked, and based on Naru's face and posture, he didn't know either. Actually, Naru seemed to be caught between tensing up and being confused.

Ignoring me, the man went right in and sat down on the couch, relaxing instantly. "Man, let me tell you, coming to Shibuya on a Sunday is crazy!" he said as he took off his hat. "Mai, be a sweetheart and get me an iced coffee."

Wait a second, the only person I know that would take an iced coffee would be… "Uh, no way! Is that Monk in there?" Well, he's still a weirdo that Naru knows, but at least it isn't a RANDOM weirdo. Naru relaxed a bit at this revelation. He had cut his hair, and he wore glasses of some kind. Between that and the clothes, I didn't really recognize him. Huh. I should've recognized his voice at least… Maybe I'm just a little bit _out of it _today.

"What, the outfit?" Monk said as he took his glasses off. Well, I'm blind you idiot. I can't tell who you are when you switch things up on me! Even Naru was surprised! "I had a live show today. I gotta admit, I love being in front of a crowd. Playing in basement studios isn't nearly as exciting."

Ah. Wait, what? This explains his speak patterns. Huh. Never noticed. "Hey!" I said as I leaned in closer, "Does that mean you used to be in a rock band or something?!"

"Well, I didn't 'used to be' in a rock band, Mai. It's my main gig!" he laughed at my (admittedly slow) reply. "I play bass!" he grabbed his instrument strap for emphasis. Ah, so it's a bass. Even so, Naru seems to be a bit surprised too.

"But, how can you work at Mount Kouya and be in a band? Are you just a monk on the side?" I tried to reason out loud.

"Kinda," Monk said vaguely. "The temple belongs to my family and my dad really wanted me to be a monk, but when I couldn't bring CDs and stuff up there I had to make a choice," Monk explained.

… Of course. That totally makes sense. I could sense that Naru was pulling a sour face again. _Careful not to get stuck that way._

"Ya know, I see a lot of curses in rock-and-roll. More than you'd imagine. So whenever something happens and an exorcism is needed, they call me since I'm already in the biz," said Monk. "See?"

"Uh huh," I nodded, "I get it." I sighed. _Wow. I guess you never really know about people. Although in Monk's case it was actually harder to believe he was a monk than a rocker._

Naru then sighed and said, "How about you fill us in on what business you have here today."

"Oh. Yeah, right," Monk seemed to have forgotten that Naru was here. "There really was a point for my coming here, promise. I was hoping you'd let me pick your brain a little." Then Monk started explaining as I went to get his iced coffee he asked for. "There's a local high school girl who follows our band. After our last gig she struck up a conversation with me. She asked me, 'Is it true that you do exorcisms?' to break the ice."

I set down Monk's beverage as I listened to him talk then sat down next to him. He continued on as if nothing happened. "So after some initial fan-girl chatting, she started telling me about a certain desk at her school. It's apparently cursed. Every single person who's sat there in the last three months has been involved in an accident, and not just that, but the same type of accident. They've all gotten their arms caught in the door of a train, and then been dragged by it." I gasped at that. I didn't take the train (for obvious reasons-I can't sense what the signs say, and it's so busy my senses get confused), but Keiko and Michiru do from time to time, and they told me about things like that. It couldn't be good.

Monk continued on from there. "A total of four people have sat in that seat since September, and all of them have fallen victim. One had only minor injuries, but the rest were seriously hurt.

"The teacher of that class was also affected. He went on and on about seeing ghosts, and then ended up in the hospital. He keeps coughing up blood but they can't figure out what's wrong." That poor man! "There's all sorts of stories about strange incidents happening at that school. I've even heard they think someone there is possessed."

"Wait, possessed?" I interrupted. That sounds like that case girl was telling us about earlier! "Hey Monk, do you happen to remember if the school she was talking about was Yuasa High School?" I said, rattling off the name of the all-girls school the girl told us before.

"That's right," Monk looked at me incredulously. "How'd you know?"

"So far we already have three case reports for Yuasa High School," I told him. "Naru rejected them, but I took down their information in case you or John might be interested."

Then, the door opened, revealing another client, a man in a suit. "Hello," he said as he stepped in, "I hope I'm not intruding."

I stepped up to greet him. "Hi, um, what can we do for you?" I asked the man.

"Well you see," he said, reaching into his coat and pulling out a card, extending it towards me. "I'm hoping you can help me." I took the card from his hands and read it.

_Noboru Mikami, Principal. Yuasa Private High School._

"Yuasa High School?" I said incredulously. Monk and Naru looked over when I spoke. _Well, I have an odd feeling of how this is going to go…_

_**BLIND**_

Monday

Monk and I watched as Lin and Naru drove up to the front of the school. Yuasa High School, to be exact. That's right. We took the case.

"We're grateful for your time," the principal told us as we sat in his office. "Mr. Yoshino is our guidance counselor. He'll give you a full tour of the school." The principal gestured to a man standing next to him. He seemed… I don't know… nervous? I don't think he's had any sleep lately. I could tell he had bags under his eyes, and that's coming from a blind girl.

"Hi there. It's nice to meet you," the man, Mr. Yoshino, greeted. *2

"As you requested, a conference room has been cleared out for you to set up in," the principal told us. "We announced that anyone who wants to speak with you should go there." _Well, that certainly makes getting our reports a heck of a lot easier._

We left the principal's office and walked into the conference room. "So, this is home base, huh?"

"We should get the equipment set up right away," Naru ordered. "Lin?"

"Right," Lin answered, the little blobs floating around him excitedly. I have no idea what they are, but they seem happy to be on a case.

"Um, excuse me," Mr. Yoshino said to Monk, "are you the one who's in charge here?"

"No sir, you want him," Monk pointed to Naru. Mr. Yoshino looked over to Naru with a slight bit of surprise.

Let's see, the three things that throw people off about Naru.

His apparent looks (according to my friends).

His personality and ego (the reason why he's Naru the Narcissist).

And, drum roll please, the fact that, at seventeen, he own his own business (the reason for Mr. Yoshino's reaction) and probably already graduated high school. That damn brat.

So basically, we're used to these reactions.

Naru looked over his shoulder before fully facing Mr. Yoshino. "What's wrong?" he asked in his typical cynical voice.

"Well, I…" Mr. Yoshino seemed even more nervous, if possible. "Before the students come in, I'd like to tell you about something." Monk and I shared a look (well, technically a look and a sense). _Already someone has a report? And it's a teacher?_

"Yes, of course," Naru said after a slight pause. "Have a seat please." He walked over to the table with Lin trailing close behind. Lin set up his laptop to type the report during the interview.

"You see, um," Mr. Yoshino began, "at night, I've been hearing this… knocking sound. It wouldn't stop, so finally I got up and went to open the curtain. All that was there was a thin, white, feminine hand, knocking on the window." I took a sharp breath. I live alone, so I briefly thought of what I'd do if it were me.

I doubt my neighbors would enjoy my screaming.

"Since then, I've barely gotten a wink of sleep," Mr. Yoshino concluded.

"Has anyone else in your house heard the knocking?" inquired Naru.

"Yes, but it doesn't seem to bother them as it does me."

"… I see."

Shortly after, Mr. Yoshino left.

_**BLIND**_

As three o'clock rolled around, students started to come in.*3

"Your name was Kiyomi, Kiyomi Ito?" Naru asked.

"Yes," the girl looked up from her lap. It was the same girl who came to us about her friend.

"When you came to see us, I believe you said you thought your friend was possessed by a fox. Is she here?"

"No sir, she's at home."

"And you also said that she was jumping up on desks and eating sand?"

"There's other stuff, too. One time she dove into the pool with her uniform on. It was like, 40 degrees that day," Kiyomi reported. _That had to have been cold! Even if she was possessed, why would she do these things?_

"Has your friend ever hurt anybody?"

"Oh no sir."

"When she started acting strangely, why did you believe she might be possessed by a fox? Why didn't you think she just might be sick?"

"Because… she actually said 'I am the white fox of the harvest god'. It all happened after that darn Ouija board. When everyone was leaving, she told us she thought she was possessed. I told her there was no way, but she said she felt really weird and that her shoulders felt heavy. And then the next day she started acting differently."

I sent my senses to Monk. _His face is so serious. What does he think about all this?_

After a small pause, Naru inquired, "Where were you using the Ouija board?"

"I classroom one dash three," Kiyomi responded.

"You used paper, and what else? A glass, or a goblet? Anything like that?"

"No, we wrote down the characters on the paper with a pencil. Nothing went wrong as far as we could tell. The spirit didn't stay and we didn't make fun of it or anything…"*4

Kiyomi left after that and was replaced by another girl who wore the school's track suit instead of her uniform.

"Look, the track team's locker room is really creepy. The lockers just fall over by themselves and our equipment will move around. At first we thought someone was just playing a joke so some of us hid to try and catch them in the act. No one knows how it happened exactly but suddenly the shot putt balls we put in a box were lined up in the middle of the floor."

The track team girl left and was replaced by another girl in her uniform with shaggy hair.

"Last month some friends and I did a test of courage in the storage room in the gym and I've been seeing a bunch of these weird shadows ever since. It's a rope on the wall, and it's shaped like a noose... One of the other girls even swears she's seen ghosts coming out of her desk, so…"

"During class?" Naru asked.

"Yeah. Um, she said it was like she all of a sudden couldn't move, and it felt like someone was touching her stomach. And when she looked down to see, a hand would be stretched out, massaging her stomach." I gasped. That sorta thing… it's too creepy! "She said it happens all the time, and her stomach just wouldn't stop hurting. She ended up having to go to the hospital."

After about, oh say all of the school had come in with a report, someone knocked on the door. "Is anybody in here?" a girl said, peeking her head inside. She spotted Monk and stepped right in. "Norio! Oh my gosh you really came!"

"Hey," Monk greeted. "Meet my friends. That handsome devil is Mr. Shibuya, the director of Shibuya Psychic Research, and his assistant, Miss Taniyama."

"HI! My name is Yuuko Takahashi. Nice to meet you," the girl greeted.

"Oh, same here," I said, more or less for both Naru and I, since Naru obviously wasn't saying anything. I turned to Monk. "Uh, Norio? What's that?"

"That's what they decided to call me in the band. See, my real name is Houshou, right? So we thought-"

"Getting back to the point," Naru interrupted, "I'm guessing that your one of victims. Were you involved in an accident after sitting at a certain desk?"

"Uh, yes," said the girl who had followed Yuuko into the room. She had a crutch, her arm was in a sling, and her legs were bandaged up. All in all, she didn't seem to be in the best of shape. "I was the second one it happened to. The train arrived at my stop, and when the doors opened I stepped out and started to walk away like normal. And it was like someone grabbed my arm and pulled me back and I got caught. I wasn't dragged very far but my shoulder was dislocated and my legs looked pretty bad. I only got my cast off last week, actually."

"Was there anyone standing near the door?" asked Naru.

"Mm-mm, no one. In fact I remember the train was pretty much empty. Just a few people were there."

"Do you have any idea of what the connection is between that desk and these accidents?"

"I don't do you?" she said as she looked at Yuuko.

"No," Yuuko replied.

"I'd really like to see this desk," Naru requested. Well, ordered, but if he started saying please I'd get worried despite my misgivings.

"Oh sure, I can take you to it," Yuuko raised her hand, then led us away to room 2-5. Surprisingly, his little blob didn't follow, and though it seemed to want to come along, the blob that actually liked me-versus indifference or dislike (cough Naru's blob cough)- stayed in base with Lin and Monk.

"It's back there," she pointed as she led us in to the corner desk in the back of the room, next to the windows. It _seemed_ normal enough.

We walked over and Naru put his hand on the desk. There was a brief flash of yellow light, outlining what I assumed to be Naru's hand. It quickly died out, and Naru's eyebrows furrowed. "Does anyone sit here now?"

"No one wants to, and the girl that was sitting here got hurt so badly she's still in the hospital," Yuuko informed him.

"And the desk has always been in this position?"

"Uh huh. Just like that."

Suddenly, I got this odd feeling we were being watched. It went away quickly, so I brushed it off. Still, it was creepy.

"I heard that something strange happened to your teacher, correct?" Naru asked after a moment.

"Ah, yeah, he kept saying he was seeing ghosts in the classroom. Even with him in the hospital he claims they're in his room. It's like he has neurosis," Yuuko paused for a moment. "The really weird thing was that he really didn't believe in that stuff before."

"Huh," I ended up huffing out. Seriously, this school is just too strange!

_**BLIND**_

Naru and I walked in to find a bunch of girls fawning over Monk as Lin sat there typing furiously, probably to block out the sound of all the girls, but otherwise acting like nothing was happening.

"Oh, hey, what's up?" Monk shot up from his seat nervously. I smiled. Of course Monk would end up like this the moment we left. Then again, it IS an all-girls' school… they're probably just excited.

Later that evening, we had all the reports from all the girls in this school plus all the teachers filled out.

"What the heck is going on at this school? I can't believe all the craziness happening here. Who's going to exorcise it all? There's no way I can do it alone," Monk grumbled, his head resting in his folded arms. "Hey Naru, do you have any one-time solutions for this?"

"Blow up the school and all the people involved," Naru grumbled from his spot beside the window.*5

"Ah, that does work. But then we'd have to make this area off-limits for a while."

… Hey you…

I set his iced coffee down in front of him. "Sorry Monk, wish I could help but it's out of my league," I said in what I hoped to be a cheerful way.

"Something's not right here," Naru turned serious again as he stared through the window. Monk straightened up to look at him. "Individually, these cases are not a big deal, but all together they're abnormal_." Is he staring though that window, or at his reflection? I get the feeling there's more to it than that, though…_ "Of course, that is assuming that they're all true." Naru looked away from the window and back to Monk and me. "But with all these similarities, there's got to be something here causing it."

_He's right. This goes way beyond coincidence. _

"Are we calling in reinforcements, then?" Monk said. Then, almost teasingly, he said, "What about Masako?"

In an instant, Naru's expression became incomprehensible. It's the kind of face you'd make when you put something in your mouth, thinking it'll be sweet, yet it turns out to be sour. That kind of face.*6

Ah, right, during our last case he wasn't exactly thrilled to have Masako come up. Does he dislike her? Why? I mean, she keeps flirting with you relentlessly, but that's no reason to hate her. Any girl with working eyes probably does the same.

Is she, perhaps, using a weakness of his against him? Either way, Monk has a tendency to tease Naru about his dislike of Masako.

*"Depending on the situation, it might be good to get advice, y'know?" Monk said, a huge grin spread across his face.

"I can't see myself living a life off of other people's advice, can you?" Naru retorted.

Monk's expression became bitter.

"That was bad," Monk grumbled.

"Don't mention it," Naru added.*7

_**BLIND**_

Tuesday

_What exactly is happening at this school?_

We ended up calling in the others-John Brown, a priest, Ayako Matsuzaki, a shrine maiden, and Masako Hara, psychic medium-to help on the case.

"With this many occurrences, I think we need to move quickly," Naru said as he gathered us up in the now-teched-up base. We hadn't been able to get much equipment in for a while because of all the reports we had to make, but rest assured, we got every single damn piece of His Royal Ego's equipment up and running. "I propose we exorcise anything we come across.*8 If that doesn't work, we'll come back together and try something else."

Monk sighed and looked at our misfit team of exorcists. I can probably guess what he's thinking. 'I have to work with these guys again? John's probably the only one who'll be any help…' Or something like that.

"I'd like Miss Hara to take a look around the school," Naru continued when he didn't hear any rejections to his plan. "You should start with the desk, and then when you're done head over to the track team's locker room."

Masako giggled, bringing her kimono sleeve up to her mouth. "Please, I'd be more comfortable if you'd just call me Masako."

_HUH?! Is she flirting with him? Screw it, now I think I know why Naru doesn't like her!_

"Join her, Ms. Matsuzaki," Naru ignored Masako, "Exorcise anything you see fit."

"Hold on," said Ayako. "Are you sure there's nothing else you'd like to say to Masako? I ask because it seems to me that lately you've been extra courteous to our celebrity friend."

"We can stand around all day chit-chatting about things that don't matter, but I'd much prefer to see you in action," Naru replied instantly, a small, terse-and-fake smile appearing. Not a good sign. He only used that face to insult people-particularly ME. Then he looked her dead-on. "Wouldn't you rather get to work and impress us than waste everyone else's time?"

Poor Ayako. You didn't stand a chance. She sulked where she stood in silent defeat, growling under her breath.

Then Naru became serious again, his face stoic once more. "Due to the number of cases we don't have enough equipment to send with you, so you'll have to rely on your own instinct. Monk and John, same goes for you."

"Got it," Monk voiced.

"Sure thing, no worries," John replied happily.

"Lin and I will continue the investigation. Mai, wait here for everyone to report back," Naru ordered me.

"Sure," I complied.

"Alright, let's begin."

And with that, they were off.

Masako and Ayako immediately went to room 2-5.

Monk and John went to the track team's room.

Naru and Lin went to a storage room, reporting back that the temperature there was about the same temperature outside before continuing to investigate.

And what did I do? I went straight to sitting down at the table.

_Once again, I'm the one left behind._ I sighed and held my face in my hands. _What do I expect? I can't do exorcisms like the others. Man if I could I'm sure Naru would-_

I was ripped from my thoughts by the base door opening.

HOLY S- Oh, it's Yuuko.

"Holy cow you scared the crap out of me," I sighed in relief as Yuuko walked over to the table.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," she apologized sheepishly. "I just thought Norio might be in here." Yuuko went and sat down in the chair in front of me. "So, what're you doing? Are you busy?"

"Nah, not really. Just kinda holding down the fort," I replied.

"Ah, so, Taniyama, right?"

"Just call me Mai. I don't feel old enough to be going by my last name," I groaned.

"Then call me Taka!" she replied cheerfully.

"Oh… okay," I sighed. "Everyone's ran off so I'm all alone here."

"Oh, I see," Taka nodded. "So, how's the exorcism going?"

"Well we've only really gotten started," I said earnestly, leaning my cheek against my slightly-fisted hand, "but I don't think it's going to be that easy. There's just so many cases here."

"Yeah, I know! It really makes you wonder what's going on at this school. Curses and ghosts and supernatural powers? I'm like, where's the UFO, ya know?"

_Wait, backtrack a second there…_

"Hold on a second," I said abruptly, standing up from my seat. "Supernatural powers?"

Taka blinked up at me in surprise.

Soon enough, I had Naru and Lin back at base to follow this up.

"Did you say, 'Kasai Panic'?" Naru questioned.

"Yeah, there's this third-year girl named Chiaki Kasai who could bend a spoon with just the power of her mind," Taka confirmed. "It was just after summer vacation. Suddenly everyone at school knew her name, and bending spoons and other supernatural stuff became a really big deal. The school was divided over the whole thing. Some people believe in it while others didn't.

"Then one day, Kasai was called up in front of everyone during morning assembly. 'If you really have powers, prove it by bending this right here and now. You can't, can you?' or something like that was said. Kasai snatched the key right up and…. Well…."

"Woah, she bent it?" I finished for Taka.

Taka nodded. "After that, things got really bad. A group of teachers started to attack her creditability. They said something along the lines of, 'This is obviously a trick! You're just making fools of us!' I guess that sent Kasai over the edge, because then she yelled back at them, "I'll curse you to death!'. And after that, all of these crazy things started happening around the school, like with the desk and the track locker room.

"People started getting frightened. They were saying it had to be because of Kasai's curse. I'm pretty sure that's why she hasn't been coming to class lately. When she's in school she usually hiding out in the biology prep room. I don't blame her…"

Soon enough, Naru and I were off the biology prep room to see Chiaki Kasai. Naru gave Taka a crude instruction on how to use the equipment so Lin could type up the report. As to why Naru is dragging me along for this versus Lin, I'm not sure, but regardless, here I am. And once again, the blobs stayed with Lin.

Naru knocked on the door. "Yes?" a feminine voice answered.

Naru took that as a cue to open the door. "Excuse me," he said as he entered, "we're looking for a Miss Chiaki Kasai."

As we entered, a girl with long hair turned away from us in her seat. "May I ask what this is regarding?" a woman, presumably a teacher, answered. I recognized her as the one who spoke when Naru knocked.

"I'm here investigating with Shibuya Psychic Research, and I would very much like to speak with Miss Kasai," Naru said politely. Huh. So _now_ you can be polite. Since when?

The older woman, the teacher, stood up to greet Naru. "Oh, right, um. What was your name?"

"My name is Kazuya Shibuya," Naru answered her.

"Ah, yes, the principal said there was going to be some people coming to investigate all the strange things happening around the school. It's so good to meet you both. Please, come in, my name is Kei Ubusuna and I teach biology here," the teacher smiled kindly. Still, I got a weird vibe from her.

"Ubusuna? That's quite an unusual name you have," Naru commented.

Ms. Ubusuna cocked her head to the side with a giggle as a reply before speaking again. "So you're looking for Kasai? I'm guessing you'd like to ask her about the incident this past September?"

"Leave me alone! I have nothing to say," the girl in the chair yelled. Even so, it almost sounded like she was about to cry.

"Kasai, I think you should clear up any confusion and tell these people exactly what happened," Ms. Ubusuna said as she walked up to the girl. _So… this is Kasai then?_

"Why should I? So they can call me a liar too?" Kasai said back with a bitter tone.

"But they investigate psychic phenomenon all the time. So they're not going to immediately reject or laugh at the things you say," the patient teacher reassured Kasai. Okay, I think I know why Naru dragged me here instead of Lin. Not because Lin had to do the case report, but because Lin would probably scare the teenage girl more than anything else. Or maybe he didn't want Lin watching him in case he was rude or something. Naru would do that, wouldn't he?

After a moment, Kasai turned back over and faced us. "Okay. So, what do you wanna know?" I'm not sure why, but… I could almost feel her frustration and sadness over the whole ordeal. She must be going through a lot right now.

"I've heard some very interesting stories about you. Stories that connect you to these events, that you have powers. The kind of powers that bend spoons and keys at will," Naru began his questioning.

"Those aren't just stories, they're the truth. I can bend them, but I don't expect you to believe me," Kasai said nonchalantly.

"Why wouldn't I? You're not the only one who can bend a spoon, you know," Naru replied*9

"What?" I ask hurriedly. Wait, is he saying…. Can Naru bend spoons too?

"Can you?" Kasai asked him.

"I can," Naru confirmed, "but even if I couldn't, any psychic researcher would believe in PK." Right, PK-psychokinesis. This would be… PK-ST, the power to move stationary objects, right?

Kasai looked at him in awe for a second. Is this the first time she's met another PK user? Well, then again, I didn't know either. Kasai quickly grabbed a spoon from a cup full of them-I guess from when she was really popular for bending them and supposedly to practice (surely it takes practice!)-and held it out to Naru.

Scoffing, she stood and said, "Then show me."

".. I guess I have no choice," Naru said, taking the spoon and twiddling it so the head faced up. He brought it up to his face and stared at it a few seconds. I noticed the way he held it. He rested the handle between the parts of his palm that folded against itself from how he held his fingers. After a moment, he brought his other hand up, put his finger against the head, and bent it. I looked up at it closer.

Even if he cheated, it's still bent. Then, so quickly I'm not so sure I didn't imagine it, a flash of yellow came out of nowhere in my dark sight and cut against the spoon's neck.

The head of the spoon hit the ground with a click.

That SO wasn't a trick. So… Naru really does have PK?

Kasai took a few steps closer, looking straight at the handle of the headless spoon. Then she picked up the spoon's head and took the handle from Naru. She held the broken ends to each other. I thought I saw a glow, but I could be wrong.

Then, when she put her hands away, the spoon was back together. Bent, but together. *10

That… was impressive.

_**BLIND**_

"Over summer vacation I was watching one of those late-night shows, ya know? This one was about spoon bending," Kasai explained to us. "So I got a spoon and started trying it myself, and eventually I learned to do it. I can't break them like you, though." That sounds sorta like something I read before… Gellerini phenomenon, right? Something about a TV broadcast, and some kids who showed psychic powers. Some of the powers quickly waned, so they faked and then were caught.

"That was it the summer? But you can still do it, right?" Naru asked. Maybe he's thinking the same thing? And then I suddenly though of Kuroda from our first case. That's right… her powers were only there during emotion duress. The only time she bent a spoon without throwing it against something was when she got really upset from not being able to do it. She hasn't done it since. Trust me; she's tried during the times we hung out. She had to buy me a new silverware set.

Kasai, as expected from Naru's comment, got upset. "Of course!" she said before violently grabbing another spoon out of the cup. I gasped-how would this turn out? She ALREADY put a broken spoon back together. Though, I suppose bending it is a bit different.

Kasai held her spoon very differently than how Naru did. She pinched two fingers at the neck and lightly held it at the bottom with her other hand. She stared at it, her fingers pinching harder at the neck, her eyes squinting. Then, she started to bend over.

… What?

She then completely bended over in her seat, her head at her knees. She was panting. Something was wrong, what was wrong?

"Stop! Right now!" Naru commanded, grabbing her shoulder. Kasai sat straight up, startled. "You were about to bend the spoon using the edge of the chair, weren't you? You do realize that if anyone caught you doing that trick they'd never believe you again."

"You're lying. I really can bend a spoon!" Kasai yelled. Oh dear, she was getting frustrated.

Naru was quick to respond with, "Any researcher knows that psychic abilities can be affected by outside sources and are therefore unstable. When you can't do something, it's okay to admit defeat," as he sat back down. Wow. That was almost… nice. Almost. "The people who will call you a fake never believed in you anyway, so don't worry about what they think."

"That's easy for you to say, but you don't have to deal with how mean people can be if you _can't_ do it. Ms. Kei was treated horribly by the other teachers just because she had the nerve to defend me," Kasai said. She looked like she was about to cry. Even so… has Naru had to deal with that?

Ms. Ubusuna went over to the poor girl and held her shoulders. "Oh, don't worry about me. Please." Then she turned to look at us. "It's been incredibly difficult to watch. I felt so bad for how they were acting towards her."

"Then everyone in the biology club quit, saying we must be doing something crazy or evil. I don't understand why this is happening to me," Kasai sobbed into her hands. She wasn't actually crying as far as I could tell, but she might as well have been.

"Is that why you 'cursed' them?" Naru asked.

Right. Kasai had allegedly said, 'I'll curse you to death!' to her tormentors.

Kasai brought her face out of her hands in surprise, staring straight at Naru. "Well, yeah, I said that but come on! It's not like I could really do it, could I?" She looked over her shoulder at Ms. Ubusuna. "Right?"

Naru gave no response.

_**BLIND**_

Naru and I walked back to base shortly after that, leaving Kasai and Ms. Ubusuna in the biology prep room.

"You know I actually feel kinda sorry for Kasai. All this fear and hatred over something small like bending spoons," I said as we came closer to base.

Naru gave no response. I didn't really expect him to. I was more or less just thinking out loud, I guess.

We reached the door and Naru reached out to the grab the handle. "Mai," he said as he gripped the handle. "I need to ask a favor of you."

_Did he say favor?!_ I was surprised and… truthfully, I was excited!

"I'd appreciate it if you'd keep the spoon-bending thing a secret from the others. Especially Lin," Naru said. I couldn't figure out his face. He was hiding it, and even my senses couldn't get a clear clue since he was turned away from me and right up against the door.

_Oh this is gonna kill me! I really REALLY wish I could ask him why!_

I shook it off and answered cheerfully, "Sure, no prob. I won't tell. I promise."

"… Thank you," Naru said. _Now he's saying THANK YOU!?_ Then he turned his face slightly towards me as he opened the door, and I could sense it. He almost looked like he was… worried? It was almost… childish, hiding things from the adults, especially with that face…

That face…

I turned away with a small squeal. Sometimes, I really impress myself with how much of a schoolgirl I really am. _Oh my gosh, this is Naru and I's first private secret! I've never sensed that face before! And I guess… this is the first time I've really noticed that he is only seventeen… Geez, I'm blind and getting all girlish because my boss made a strange face. Why am I suddenly-_

*11 "But that can't be true!" I heard Monk yell from the now slightly-open base door. Right, Naru's walking in, I should follow. Good assistant. Naru's face had also gone back to stoic and serious versus the expression that showed his real age.

"Well, it is. I'm telling you there are no spirits here. I've looked all over and if there were, I would know by now," Masako's calm voice responded as I walked in and closed the door. What, no spirits? Say WHAT NOW?

"Come on, there at least has to be something in that desk. And don't forget about the four accidents in a row!" Monk got in Masako's face.

"There is some kind of deception going on at this school," Masako retorted, her voice calm as always.

"Oh, and I guess all of the students and teachers are in on it! You gotta be kidding me!" Monk yelled.

"Relax mate," John said, coming up behind a huffing Monk. I guess he's just frustrated. We all are.

"You know, Masako's theory may not be accurate," Ayako piped in.

"Well, I'm certain it's more accurate than yours, Ms. Matsuzaki," Masako said, her sleeve up to her mouth again.

I sighed, my head tilting to the side as Ayako gasped, offended. Geez, these people and their fighting! I guess Taka left when everyone came back. Wise decision.

"In fact, Ms. Matsuzaki, I wonder if anything you've said has ever been accurate," Masako said.

"Well you may be able to see 'em but can you exorcise them?" Ayako responded.

From the other side of the room, Naru sighed as he looked at the window. Or more like… his reflection. He did that earlier too. And didn't he also do that at my school during the suggestion? Then he said so quietly that I only could tell what he said by reading his lips, "If only there was a psychic here we could rely on." He borderline sad, but also borderline irritated.

He walked over to Lin, his face normal again. "Lin, let's get back to work," Naru said in a purposely loud voice.

"Of course," the tall man answered after a pause. Did Lin catch what Naru said?

John smiled. "Hey, whaddya say we go take another look around?" Monk asked him.

"I'm right behind ya," John said with his funny dialect.

Ayako and Masako huffed as they looked at each other, knowing exactly how this was going. "You may want to look closely this time," Ayako snuffed at Masako.

"It won't matter. I'll still be right," Masako retorted. Ayako simply huffed before violently dragging Masako out of the room. Everyone else soon found themselves heading out.

And where did I end up? Alone at base. "I'm having deja-vu," I sighed out loud as I sat at the table _again_.

I sighed and picked up one of the reports that were laid out of the table. _So Masako doesn't think there are any spirits… if that's true then why are all these things happening?_

I put the paper down and yawned. Geez, why was I so tired?

_Ouh, snap out of it. Naru will freak if he catches me sleeping in here._

I tried to keep my eyes open. I really did.

Next thing I know, I was out like a light.

_**BLIND**_

I was in a mirror maze. I knew this maze. My mother used to take me here when I was younger. I don't remember it much. When I tried to think about it, I got a haze. It was just like a lot of my memories before I became blind. Hazy, and unclear. Hiding something.

But I did remember one thing about this maze-that the younger me cried a lot in this maze. I'd look at myself in the distorted mirrors and cry. But now…. it didn't scare me at all. I turned to look at myself.

… I'll have to talk to my neighbor about letting me out in weird colors again… Strangely, this was the one mirror that wasn't distorted. I saw my (rather weird) outfit, my short brown hair, and my brown eyes. It was weird that whenever I dream of a mirror and can see myself, I can't see the scratches or the blue-tinted film over my eyes like my friends do. They always tell me it's there. I wouldn't know, but I'll take their word for it.

Well, maze or not, I better get out. I started walking when suddenly, everything flashed away.*12

I came to a dark void filled with floating lights. I came here again? Then that means…

I couldn't sense things when I was in this place, so I had to look around. It was weird.

After a moment of looking around at the wisps I saw him.

The boy in black that has Naru's voice.

_You again?_

He looked at me for a moment before looking away and pointing somewhere. He wasn't smiling like usual. What was wrong?

I followed his gaze and saw… the school? It was sketched in the black place with white lines, and though it took me a moment, I recognized it as the school we were investigating.

There were little blue globes in the school at seemingly random places. What on earth…?

"Foxfires," the boy said with his echo voice, looking straight at the school.

_Foxfires?!_

This… this was bad. Really bad.

_**BLIND**_

**Not sure if I already told you or not, but I noticed something in the (5-course-meal-long) intro. And I just… can't. Gah! It made me sad and happy for various reasons. I feel conflicted on telling you about it, as it might ruin your day a little, but also, I think I'm the only one who noticed, so naturally I feel I should tell… BAH! DECISIONS! **

**So anyway, a lot of you may have noticed that there were things from the manga I didn't star, and maybe a few even noted the ones from the translated book if you read it. I didn't want to put **_**every little thing in**_** so sorry boos, if you want to know where I got a certain part from, just message me somehow, 'kay? I have enough star things as is.**

***1 This is directly from the translated book, and more or less word-for word. I need to credit it, so… not my work. Not my translation. If I have more of these, I'll star them then say 'first star'. Okay? So no suing.**

***2 This isn't a translation note, actually. I just wanted to point out that, at this time, if you pause (the time is about 6:30, give or take) you see them sitting, except for Mai, who stands because she would be completely backwards in her seat, plus she's probably being polite. However, if you focus on Naru, I can't help but notice that he's sitting in his seat like he's in a throne chair… so I laughed and laughed and laughed. Because, duh, it's Naru, of freaking COURSE he would sit like that. Just thought I'd share.**

***3 Okay, so I say the students come in at around three o'clock, right? That has nothing to do with my knowledge of when Japanese schools ended. The clock says three o'clock right on the screen. Heck, my local high school doesn't get out until three fifteen.**

***4 (DAMN THERE ARE A LOT OF THESE) Anyway, in both the manga and the translation, it's called a Kokkuri-san. The friend also said 'I am Oinari-san's servant, the white fox', but anyway. They both say that it went on peacefully. Naru even asked if they had fun, but I was too weirded out/laughing to put THAT part in.**

***5 -sighs- yes, in the book, Monk asks Naru for a one-time solution. The conversation basically went as it did in the chapter up until Mai gave him the iced coffee. So yes, Naru did say to just blow up the school and everyone in it. He can get THAT frustrated.**

***6 first star. Word-for-word from the book. No joke.**

***7 the whole thing between those two stars are quoted from the book. Ah, gotta love Naru. The part before it wasn't word for word, so I had to use two star thingies (grumbles)**

***8 You're probably tired of these. So am I. BUT has anyone ever typed 'I propose'? Simple enough until it's NARU saying it. It's just… I had to share.**

***9 Dang it, Naru. Okay, here IS a translation note. Naru says 'ya know' instead of 'you know' but, because it's Naru I have to be all English-Teacher on him. Don't worry, Todd (voice actor), you're still awesome. Naru is just too proper in my mind. Oh, and although I didn't make a note for it… Kei Ubusuna also has a weird way of saying 'phenomenon'. Or maybe I just say it weird. I just don't know anymore guys.**

***10 This happened it the manga. I almost overlooked it, but decided, hey, why not?**

***11 Strange place for a star, but well… in the book, it's different. Ayako and Monk start out with a lover's quarrel (yes, it was called that). Ayako apparently got herself and Masako stuck in a poltergeist room and Monk (and I guess John) had to save them. It's sorta implied, so I could be wrong. Also, John and Monk got a spear thrown at them as they left a building. A spear for throwing and piercing things and junk. John got cut. I wasn't sure if I should add it it-and truthfully I may edit this later and add it in. They also talk about hysteria being the cause of the so-called possession and Naru mentions that he can't think of any other way to solve everything other than an explosion. Hmph. Naru. Who knew? Anyway, he thinks that 'If I were a neurologist, I would think that a fit of hysteria has broken out in this school'. When Mai acts surprised (or something, it wasn't exactly clear), Naru (I think) says, 'Ah, Mai didn't know? Even though things may appear this way, as a parapsychologist this is my conviction'. So whatever. Big chunk left out from the manga.**

***12 Last one I swear, and if you're still reading these, good for you. Anyway, so Mai first dreamed herself in this amusement park her mother used to take her to. I literally took that one out of the book, so… first star. She actually hung out there for a while longer before following a constant shadow to try and get out. That shadow belonged to Gene. Actually, she fell asleep in the middle of a meeting. Naru and her got in a bit of an argument (ended in a draw, I think, for those who keep score). The creepy thing about it was that she **_**fell asleep with her eyes open.**_** In other news, that creepy bit gave me a nice idea… hehe… There. Done.**

**IMPORTANT!**

**To whoever decided to copy Blind,**

**Look, I don't mind the initial use of the episode structure and then editing it to your personal use. It follows the episode pretty well, if I do say so myself, so I can understand. HOWEVER, either edit out my own parts (like the vase scene or whatever you people call it-I usually say 'The Tea Scene') or I WILL report you. Besides, it's a lot more useful for you just to go through the episode yourself. That way YOUR interpretation is on there, not mine. I get being lazy (as all the people who have followed this story since its beginning would know-sorry about that), but honestly, at least make it LOOK like you're not plagiarizing. It's not cool, dude. Personally, I like your story idea, I really do. But I'm not afraid to shut your ass down just because I like your story ideas. (BTW-I did go through your other stories. I can report you for other stories too, I'm sure).**

**So, seriously, just do the work yourself. It's much more rewarding than just copying. Also, if you decide to be a lazy bum and continue editing from my original structure (once more, that part is not the part I really mind, although it does make me a bit upset), at least make the transition of my original parts to your added in/edited parts. Such as capitals and periods and quotations and junk. And don't forget that Mai is BLIND here-but not in your story. I have to pay particular attention to not describe things in color or specific detail and her dialog can be a bit off from the anime.**

**Oh dear Lord I just gave advice to a plagiarizer. **

**Anyway, Hugs and Love (and all that good nonsense),**

**SabastianScott.**

**(PS- I know you know who you are.)**

**That announcement over, thank you to my dear informant (I won't say names as the copier may get upset at you, and I don't want you to get hated on for reporting things) who told me that, and to the person/people who reviewed on said story about this problem. I appreciate it, thanks a whole lot. Seriously, if I could hug you, I would. And then get you a cake or something. I know who the person is, so I plan to keep an eye on their account. If you know who they are, don't send hate mail. Just watch them for me, okay? I also have other things and I'm not all-knowing, so I can't watch their every move, nor do I want to. This is probably bad enough for them as is, no need to make it worse.**

**Passing on from that, HERE'S SOME FANFIC SUGGESTIONS!**

**Little Gems, Little Moments by pinchfield**

**Nomenclature by The Jenx**

**Juvenile Techniques by Mystic 777**

**Like always, if you have fanfic suggestions, please PM or message me.**

_**TO THE PERSON I PROMISED TO EDIT FOR:**_

_**I did do it, promise. But like I said, corrupted files are evil. SO I HAVE TO REDO THE WHOLE DAMN THING. But that's not exactly what this is about. I need to know how to send it to you once I'm done (again). I don't mind email, but I don't have your address, and the email name will be a bit weird since it's the only email I have that doesn't have my initials in it. It's actually for my second DA account (I have two-one for Ghost Hunt and the other for my other fandoms and comics, if I ever get them up).**_

_**Please tell me your answer soon so I can start editing (again) and then send it to you!**_

_**SabastianScott**_

**Sorry about all the letters and stuff. A lot happened, okay? And if you're still reading this, congrats!**

**If you have any suggestions or questions for this story, don't be shy! Leave a message! I love hearing feedback from you! It really helps in the process, and I'm impressed about how intuitive you guys can be about future turns in the story (well, as far as the anime goes and the little hints I drop-I'm glad you pick up on them!).**

**One last thing, I swear. And this is probably the longest author's note ever, so sorry about that. Anyway, so my friends couldn't really care that much about all my reviews (even though they are happy that I'm so excited over feedback-I have a stupid dance and everything). They do find it hilarious, however, when I get an email at, oh say, three in the morning, for example. Why? Because the very next day I'll come up to them and say 'My readers don't effin SLEEP!' while showing my email app thingy to them. Then I realized-I don't sleep either. So carry on with reviewing in the middle of the night. That's all.**


	9. Chapter 9

**I told you I'd work hard on this one!**

**Don't pull a Mai. Try to stay out of trouble.**

**And, YES, I'm aware of time zones. I'm not in third grade. I just have the automatic assumption that you people posted at least SOMEWHERE near the time I got the email. And, besides, you people still don't sleep.**

**(And now an RPG game is telling me to go save a city… too bad)**

**Enjoy!**

_**BLIND**_

_My name is Mai Taniyama, and I'm a freshman in high school. *1 _

_Another mysterious case was brought to Shibuya Psychic Research. A girl believed that her friend was possessed by a fox and a teacher collapsed after claiming he could se ghosts. After the principal visited us we agreed to investigate the events at Yuasa High School. When we got there weird things kept happening, and the stories got stranger and scarier. What in the world is going on here?_

_We did discover an incident about three months earlier. A girl named Kasai was publically ridiculed by teachers for saying she could bend spoons using supernatural powers. And then… she snapped and said, "I'll curse you to death!"_

_Not too long after that the unexplainable and dangerous occurrences started happening. But if anything, Kasai is the one most worried and stressed right now. I have a really bad feeling about all of this. Underneath all of these strange and mysterious events, I sense a creeping darkness that's growing stronger every day…_

_**BLIND **_

December

Wednesday

With the rest of SPR:

Monk was trying his hand at exorcising the cursed desk in room 2-5 while Ayako and John were also around somewhere, attempting to exorcise the evil spirits in the building.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Naru reported as he and Lin watched the exorcisms from a nearby art storage room.

"No remarkable temperature changes to report either," Lin said as he checked his portable temperature gauge.

Why they had chosen to do this, going into a storage room instead of base… well, it had to do with the fact that they had wanted to watch the exorcisms but without the others coming in, including Mai. Naru had been feeling fidgety about this case because of the PK and circumstances involved, so he had wanted a little space in case he slipped something up. Yes, even _he_ can screw up sometimes.

"There's no real activity…" Naru said with a curious tone to his voice.

The door slid open, revealing the only one of the group that knew their little secret, and as such, knew where they were hiding out. "Of course not," Masako said as she stepped further into the room, "because there are no spirits in this building."

"There are still unexplained events happening here," Naru stiffly replied. "It is imperative we keep investigating until we determine their cause."

"Fine, but no matter how hard you look, you won't find spirits," Masako told him in confidence.

In the hallway, unbeknownst to them, a certain Chiaki Kasai had watched their little incident. Truthfully, she had just been walking around while no one was here like she had a tendency to do nowadays. She just happened to watch Masako Hara walk into an art storage room and became curious. I mean, who wouldn't? It's not every day a celebrity comes to your school, especially one with psychic powers and kept coming _back_ day in and day out.

Kasai actually sorta looked up to Masako. She wouldn't admit it, but she admired her for the fact that, despite all the disbelievers, she still stood her ground. It was admirable in her eyes.

Upon finding that Masako apparently didn't think there were spirits here, she went to check with one of the few she felt she could trust. Mai Taniyama. If the others were busy with exorcisms… that left three out. Since she had just found the other three out of the original group of seven, that meant Mai must be alone the team's 'base'.

… _What kind of idiots are you, leaving her alone? This place is weird and dangerous, who knows what could happen?_

So Kasai walked off to find their base.

_**BLIND**_

With Mai once again:

I couldn't help but think about those foxfires. _**So many foxfires… burning all over the building. Was it a dream, or could it be…? **_I trailed off on the paper.

I tried to get myself to wake up, I really did. Thankfully in the time I fell asleep none of the others came in as far as I could tell, but oddly enough I feel even more taxed than when I fell asleep.

"Wake up, Mai!" I scolded myself.

_**That was so weird. I've got a really bad feeling about this.**_ I had started writing in my diary, hoping it would help wake me up and collect my thoughts._** I hope everyone can do their exorcisms fast so we can get out of here.**_

So far, the writing was only helping a little.

I put it back in my bag and sat there,=. I sent my sense to do a sweep around the room before noticing someone at the door, peaking in.

HOLY COW WHAT THE- Oh, yeah. _Kasai_. Wait, what is she doing here? How long had she been there anyway?

She looked straight at me as she started to walk away again.

"Uh" I said, standing up and rushing to the door, "wait a second!" I reached the door and shouted into the hallway, "Kasai!" As she heard her name, Kasai stopped.

"Yeah?" she questioned over her shoulder.

"Um…" Well, I didn't think _this_ one through, now did I? "Well, can I help you with anything?"

"No thanks," Kasai said coolly.

"Oh," I said, turning back to base as Kasai turned away again

"Are all those other people friends of yours?" Kasai asked, not taking a single step forward down the hall.

I turned back around in surprise. "Huh?" Which 'other people' was she talking about?

"It looks like they're trying to do some sort of exorcism," she explained further.

"Oh." She was talking about SPR, duh. Sometimes, I wonder about how my brain works. "Them. Yeah, Monk, Ayako, and John are my friends I guess. But actually they're more like my coworkers," I explained. Were we friends? I know Monk thinks we're friends. But what about Ayako and John?

"And Masako Hara?"

"Huh?" Kasai knew her? Oh, right, TV psychic. Forgot about that. "Oh, of course you know who she is. I keep forgetting that Masako is actually kinda famous."

"Yeah, I saw her on TV," Kasai played it off. "What has she said about this school? That there are a lot of evil spirits hanging around?"

"Uh-uh. In fact she doesn't think that there are any," I explained.

Kasai whipped around to face me. "Aren't any? Even with all the stuff happening here?" she asked curiously.

I nodded. "It was hard for me to believe too. But she swears she doesn't see them here."

"So what about you? Are you able to see them?"

"Oh no no no no no no, not me, I'm not a spiritualist. I've never been able to do that," I discredited as quickly as possible. Me? Psychic? No way, no how.

"What about Mr. Shibuya, he's a spiritualist, right?" Kasai asks some very good questions, actually. For someone outside the group, they might assume we can all see spirits. It sorta reminds me of when Naru first meets clients with at interesting cases.

"Oh, Na-" I cut myself off. Naru would _kill_ me if he found out that more people knew his nickname! "I mean Mr. Shibuya isn't really a spiritualist, per say. He's more of a 'ghost hunter', and I think he may be an onmyouji as well."

"Is he really?" Kasai said surprised. "So that would mean he _does_ practice onmiyoudo…" she muttered more to herself than anything else.*2

"Hey Kasai," Taka said as she walked up, making me forget about Kasai's comment.

"Takahashi," Kasai greeted politely, albeit stiffly, as she stared at her shoes.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. "Monk still exorcising, and didn't school end a few minutes ago? What are you sticking around for?" True enough, that damn bell had been the thing to wake me up.

Taka nodded. "Well, yeah, but it didn't seem right to leave Kasai to walk home by herself." She turned to Kasai. "So, if you don't mind, I'll walk you home. It's getting dangerous for you, and I'm getting concerned for your safety, so I'd thought it'd be better to leave a bit earlier than most of the girls, since a lot of them have clubs or cleaning duties."

"What help will you do?" Kasai said, not looking up from her shoes. "It's not like I haven't walked home alone before."

"You used to walk home with your friends all the time, Kasai. So, if it's okay, I want to be your friend, too. It seems that Mai already befriended you, so why not me?" Taka said, leaning down at an angle to try and see her face.

"… I guess…" Kasai said. Heh, Kasai's actually pretty shy.

"Great! I'll go wait at the gate, if you don't mind, so you can finish up here with Mai!" Taka beamed happily before skipping off down the hall.

"She's nice," I said, looking as Kasai started to peak up through her hair. "So, are we friends?" I asked.

"I suppose so, at least according to Takahashi," she said as she straightened up completely. I smiled at her and she looked back down at her shoes. Ah, yes, Kasai _is_ shy.

Then I sensed something. Or rather, someone-two someones, actually.

"Naru," I said surprised as I sensed him and Lin turn the corner.

Kasai looked at me in shock before turning to see the two stoic men walk down the hall towards us. Quickly, she turned and ran in the opposite direction. "Uh," I said as she passed. "See you later?" I said as her form retreated further down the hall. Weird.

And then I noticed Naru staring her down as she left. Even weirder.

It took me a total of three seconds to decide to follow her down to the hall to make sure she was alright.

I caught up to her as she walked past the shoe lockers, presumably to get her bag to leave.

Then, she bumped into Mr. Yoshino, the nervous guidance counselor with the knocking hand bothering him. I hid behind the corner as Kasai glared at the older man. Not that I blame her. I didn't have a personal problem with the guy, but he did treat Kasai pretty poorly. Mr. Yoshino nervously gulped and regained whatever composure he lost while interacting with Kasai and went on to leave the building.

I stayed where I was at until I sensed Kasai go out with her bag. As she left, I snagged the door and sensed as she and Taka walked away, unbeknownst of my presence.

Well, at least Kasai had someone to turn to at her school other than Ms. Ubusuna. There was something about her that was starting to bother me. I usually could ignore it, it really wasn't that strong a feeling, but it got more persistent whenever her or Kasai were anywhere near me.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind and headed towards base. Naru was going to want an explanation… and some tea.

_**BLIND**_

Ayako sipped her tea leisurely in her seat. "I thought there was something fishy about that girl," Ayako stated simply. "You're saying she came in here to check us all out, right?"

I had just finished explained what happened when Kasai had shown up. I felt like I was forgetting something important, though..

Regardless, in the time I had chased after Kasai, the others had shown up at base.

"Maybe she wasn't 'checking us out'," I said, my chin gripped thoughtfully in by hand. "Maybe she was just curious or something." True enough, I suppose. It's not common for a group of ghost hunters to show up at your school. You would be curious. Then again, that's sorta how I ended up becoming Naru's servan-I mean, assistant.

"Well, Kasai _is_ aware that the whole school thinks her curse is the cause of all this," Monk put in. "Maybe she thinks we believe it too and we're her latest enemy, you know."

"She wouldn't do that," I defended.

"Still, she does have powers," John brought in from across the room. "According to a number of her schoolmates, she was apparently able to bend spoons with her mind. Do you think it's possible she also possesses PK-LT?"

PK-L what? I read about PK-_ST_ thanks to Kuroda, but are there other forms of PK?*3 Although, I'll admit, it sounds sorta familiar…

I asked the inevitable. "What's PK-LT?" Everyone seemed to stop what they were doing and stare at my mindlessness. _I get it, I'm an idiot! It's not my fault almost all the books in the office are in English!_

"I'll explain it for Mai's sake," Naru cut in.*4 "PK-LT is the power to affect living creatures using only a force of will.

"The two major divisions of supernatural ability are PK and ESP, or extra-sensory perception. This is a special ability to know things that normal people wouldn't sense. Telepathy and clairvoyance are in this category.*5

"PK, however, is a force of will. Moving objects by literally thinking them into action. The three categories are PK-MT, PK-ST, and last but not least PK-LT. "

I sighed, I should have known this would turn into a lecture. Naru went on regardless of my reaction.

"PK-ST is the power to affect static targets. Spoon bending would fall here. PK-MT is the power to affect moving targets. And PK-LT, as I've said, is the power to affect living targets."

"So what makes you think Kasai is capable of doing such a thing?" I asked.

"If you can't see the connection after everything I've said then I can't help you," Naru said unapologetically.

I gasped and leaned over with my hand on Masako's chair. "I'm sorry I'm so stupid, Your Highness," I said sarcastically.

"Are we in agreement then that Kasai really did invoke a curse on the school?" John said, his face serious.

"A curse?" I said incredulously. Was that what they meant? No way!

"She admitted it," Ayako responded. "She said, 'I'll curse you to death'," she reminded me sardonically.

"Oh, right," I replied.

"But it's not really a curse. It's more like using psychic powers to make people suffer. That's the PK-LT part," Monk told us. "But judging from what I've heard from a number of students, I don't think the girl has that much power. Do you guys know about the famous British psychic Oliver Davis? They say he can slam a one-hundred-and-ten pound aluminum block into the wall, but he hasn't been able to perform PK-LT." Monk walked past to the coffee machine we had. Oddly, Naru had a strange expression on his face.

"This girl can't even seem to bend spoons very well," Ayako agreed to some degree. Naru simply sipped his tea. Seriously, that expression is weird. "I remember when I was little there was sort of this supernatural craze where a bunch of kids claimed they could bend spoons and preform magic. Of course, it turned out most of them were just lying."

"Wow," Monk turned to the priestess, his cup now full. "That means you must be pretty old." Next thing we know, Ayako had hit Monk on top of his head. "Gah…" Monk groaned, holding his head in pain while Ayako held her fist in front of her in an agitated manner.

*6 John decided to cut in. "Uri Geller started spoon bending. Uri Geller is the best psychic of the century...his supernatural powers were shown to the public. He had PK, clairvoyance, and prediction abilities similar to that of a prophet. He made the impossible possible. Geller was everywhere when it came to spoon bending. All the children saw him do it too."

"Ah, you mean the Gellerini?" I said, double checking myself.

"Yes, that's right. But the Gellerini had unstable powers. When they lost their powers, they would rely on magic tricks. Some of them were exposed as cheaters," John nodded.

"I see," this time, I nodded.

"Because of that, some people began to doubt Geller's ability," John continued.

"They doubted Uri Geller?" Wow, didn't know that detail.

"Yeah. At that time, America's Society of Psychical Research had publicly announced that Uri Geller was a fake. That incident left such a strong impression on people that everyone now believes spoon bending is fake."

"But John, did you think Uri Geller's powers were real?" I asked.

John put on a tired smile. "Not really... It's just, he was too showy. At any rate, they were just illusions that garnered more attention than they deserved."

"Ah, I get it now."

Listening in, Monk leaned towards us. "I think Geller was a fake too."

"Why?" I asked.

"Hmm. Psychic ability...if it's the ability of sensing hidden things, hearing noises, or seeing things, then that's the ability to sense things that shouldn't be there. Geller was well-received at first, but he was later in a bind. He could do everything, but there was still something strange about him," the monk admitted. "There is ESP and PK, right? ESP has its two main branches, telepathy and clairvoyance, and PK has PK-ST, PK-MT, and PK-LT. Sometimes there's a mix, but often you either fall in one or the other. For example, Edgar Cayce Jean Dickson is an amazing clairvoyant, but I've never heard of him bending a spoon before. Likewise, Nina Kulagina has strong PK powers, but I've never heard of her having ESP. Only Kulagina and Davis have that kind of PK power."

"That's right," John agreed. "But for Uri Geller, assuming his PK was the best, was his ESP also the best too? If that's the case, then that means his power was unrestricted. However, I still think he was a fake."

Ayako leaned forward. "I've always wondered about that. Why does the spoon bend? If the metal bends, then what kind of spoon is it? And if PK can bend the spoon, then is it even a spoon? Isn't that strange?"

"PK-MT is also widely considered to be fake. However, the majority of people have this. This latent ability varies in power for different people," Monk cut in

"...Do I have it too?" Hey, I was curious!

"Maybe," Monk shrugged. "If someone has PK-ST, it doesn't necessarily mean that said person is a fake. Unlike the Gellerini's PK, Shelby Meyer's was fake. She bent a special type of metal. She seemed credible but terribly arrogant. Generally people with psychic abilities, like Geller, would act as a magician. In that case, he would be able to perform magic without having to put up with others' complaints. But even magicians have limits. Otherwise, people would get suspicious, right? If I remember correctly, Meyer was also a magician, similar to Rolfe-something or other, but Rolfe constantly got into conflicts and fights with others. Despite this, this Rolfe magician was eventually backed up by Meyer. In other words, Meyer had confirmed his powers."

"Oh—"

"And there was also Nina Kulagina. She was very strong. She had both PK-ST and PK-LT. PK-LT is the ability to influence living organisms, such as making them move. Such actions were often a cinch for her. She could cure illnesses with just physical contact. She stopped a frog's heart and even a human heart."

"She could stop hearts—?!" I was aghast. That sort of thing-!

"Yes. During the experiment, she aroused the researcher's curiosity. If she could stop a frog's heart, then she might be able to stop a human's heart. He got a volunteer for the experiment, and eventually the volunteer's heart was in imminent danger of stopping. The doctor witnessing this was able to save him though."

Oh my god—

"...Normally, PK is used to move matchboxes, spoons, or other little objects. But there's a big gap of power between Oliver Davis and others. Dr. Davis is more of a serious researcher than a PK-user, and as such he hasn't been publicized much."

"Wow."

"But PK is just limited that way. Neither Shelby Meyer nor Oliver Davis had PK-LT either. Despite that...Uri Geller could do all the PK types, right? On top of that, he could also use ESP. Still, he looked suspicious to me." *6

"Be that as it may," Naru came into the conversation, "it's very important to remember that in Kasai's case she truly believed in her psychic powers. She felt that she was unfairly attacked and ridiculed by her teachers in front of the entire school. And then… she cursed them to death. Strange things began happening after she said that. Those are the facts, and we can't ignore them."

Suddenly, the door burst open, and Taka rushed in. "Something awful has happened! Mr. Yoshino was in a bad car accident and now he's in the hospital!"

"Wait, Taka, weren't you going home?! Where's Kasai?" I asked her hurriedly.

"Someone stopped us as we were walking. As soon as we heard we ran to the school. She was right behind me…" Taka trailed off as she glanced behind her to see that there was no Kasai there.

Naru stood up. Regardless, we had to put Kasai aside for now. We needed to get to the hospital.

_**BLIND**_

Naru, Monk, and I went to the hospital while everyone else stayed behind.

Mr. Yoshino laid in the hospital bed, his head wrapped in bandages and his hands clutching the sheets tightly. Whatever had happened… it scared Mr. Yoshino pretty badly. Whatever the case may be, we still needed answers.

"I-I was driving," Mr. Yoshino started to explain, "and there it was. Right in front of me! A hand! The knocking hand! It's because of her! That girl! It's Chiaki Kasai! When I was leaving school, she ran into me… and she gave me the most evil look I've ever seen!" Apparently you haven't seen many, I've gotten worse glares from field mice. I remember her glaring, yes, but… it wasn't particularly evil, I don't think. "Oh my God, she cursed me. She cursed me to die and now it's really happening!" Then Mr. Yoshino pulled the cover over his head and started sobbing hysterically.

Soon, we started walking back to the school-the hospital is situated right near the school, similar to my school. After all, that's what saved Lin an even worse injury when he pushed me out of the way of those shoe lockers.

"What do ya think, Naru? Was it Kasai?" Monk asked. Those two walked ahead of me as I trailed behind.

"I'm really not sure," Naru confessed,*7 "but we can safely say that things seem to be getting worse." Right, the homeroom teacher who vomits blood has gotten worse recently, and he still sees ghosts in his hospital room. "Let's hurry back. We've got a lot to do and no time to waste."

Suddenly, I stopped with a slight gasp. _This feeling…_

Naru and Monk, upon noticing my gasp and sudden stop, stopped themselves and turned slightly to see what happened.

"What's wrong?" asked Monk.

"I… don't know," I said honestly. "I just felt scared all of a sudden." I've felt this feeling before… and I'd rather not relive it again. So why now? I'm not even remotely in the same situation. Still, I felt that there was somewhere we had to go, _now._

Even so, I didn't miss the calculating look on Naru's face.

_**BLIND**_

We walked into the school, and through some weird force of will, I ended up leading the trio of us through the school to an unknown destination. I couldn't ignore it, no matter how hard I tried (and trust me, _I tried_), so I just started to go with it. My senses decided to be strange and start working far more than usual. Usually, I could only sense around corners when I got near them, and similarly for doorways, I couldn't usually sense more than maybe a foot beyond the opening. I guessed that would be about the same as someone who could see (although I doubt they could do that when the corners and doorways were behind them, but oh well). Likewise, I couldn't sense far up in the sky or far down below me. And, for reasons I can't explain, I've always had trouble sensing down wells or holes deeper than about six or so feet (although on cliffs I could usually sense all the way to the bottom. I suspected it had something to do with the opening of the holes, but whatever). However, as I walked down these hallways, I could sense far around the corners, almost all the way to the next corner, which was unusual for me.

To put it simply, I could read the lips of the girls surrounding Kasai far before we could hear them. I couldn't run because with every step closer I took, I became more fearful and scared. I almost wanted to hightail it out of here. Almost.

"Come on Kasai, admit it! Why don't you just stop?" one girl said rudely. Shouldn't you have gone home by now? Clubs have probably ended by now.

"Yeah, stop using your 'psychic powers' or whatever," another commented.

"What are you trying to do, scare everyone to death?" the third one said.

"No… you're wrong…" Kasai said back. Even though I couldn't actually hear her yet, I think her voice was quivering.

"You know, if poor Mr. Yoshino had died, you'd totally be guilty of murder!" the first one, the one who stood in between the other two, stepped closer as she said this. At this point, we could now faintly hear her.

Kasai turned towards the wall, trying to ignore them.

"Hey, maybe we should lay off," one of them said to the rest. "If we say too much she could freak out and decide to curse us next!" They three of them seemed to gasp and took a tentative step back from Kasai. I was about to run when an unexpected presence showed up.

"What are you girls doing?" Ms. Ubusuna said commandingly as she stepped into the scene. "Kasai?"

Kasai ran over to her teacher, breaking away from the group of girls that had her cornered. She started to cry softly onto Ms. Ubusuna's shoulder.

Then, we walked up to the hall that they were in. "Kasai?" I said carefully. The moment we stepped in, the scared feeling was gone. I had sensed the scene, but it still seemed a bit surreal to me.

"There they go again," one of them commented on the crying-student-and-only-supportive-teacher-in-this -school pair.

"It's kinda sick…"

"I don't understand how Ms. Ubusuna can stick up for her like that."

Then the three walked off, uncaring.

"Don't pay any attention to them," Ms. Ubusuna comforted Kasai quietly. "It's not your fault. You've done nothing wrong."

… Maybe there was something off about this pair. I certainly didn't feel certain about Ms. Ubusuna, that was for sure.

Especially not with that weird expression on her face.

No, I no longer know what to think.

_Just what is going on at this school?_

_**BLIND**_

John, Ayako, and Monk were trying their hands at exorcising…. Again.

I decided to write as I walked around the room. No one else was in base, and I couldn't find anything else to clean up. I already cleaned up around five times…

Naru better be thankful he has such a dedicated (bored) assistant to keep his base clean.

_**Man, they've got their hands full with this one. They exorcised the track team's locker room as well as that desk, so they've hit every place related to the incident. Still, I…**_

I stopped when I thought about that hand that caused Mr. Yoshino's car accident. "I wonder if… I mean hope nothing's going to pop out in this room too…" I said to myself warily. I put my diary back in my bag and sent my senses around the room for a little paranoia-induced double-check of the room.

Let's see…. The table? Clear.

Ceiling? All good.

Door? The knob was-HOLY CRAP THE KNOB WAS TURNING!

"AH!" I shrieked in surprise.

Then Naru stepped in.

"Naru!" I said happily. I've never been so happy to find that man on the other side of a door.

And of course, he walked right past, ignoring my little 'episode'. Go figure, right?

"How about I make some tea?" I asked, rushing over to the tea set without an answer.

"Fine," Naru said, looking at some of the initial case reports I had left out.

I measured out the tea leaves into the teapot and asked, "Hey Naru? I have a question about Kasai."

"I don't know yet," Naru answered automatically. _That was quick!_ He answered so fast, seemingly reading my mind on the fact of whether he thought she was guilty or not.

Knowing Naru, he might just have.

"Okay, it's just that there's something bothering me," I said in response. Then, something flickered to the side of my vision. "What's that?" I turned, hoping it was one of the blobs messing with me again.

Nothing.

"Did you see it?" I asked, stepping closer to Naru as I tried to find that flicker again. Then I heard the lights flicker off. The hum… gone. "I hope it's not a power outage," I said. I didn't mind the dark, heck I _lived_ in it (in more ways than one-when am I ever in the loop about things?), but we couldn't lose the equipment for long. It was our eyes (well, theirs) and ears around the school.

Strangely enough, though, Naru stood up quickly. "Quiet," he whispered. His eyes were fixed on something, but I couldn't tell what.

Then, I started to have vision of some sort of purple light through the ceiling. It seemed like… hair? I didn't know what scared me more, the fact I was having another vision episode or the fact that there was hair coming out of the ceiling. I think… both.

"What is that?" I whispered to myself.

"Now don't make any sudden movements," Naru said quietly, stepping in forward and pushing me behind him slightly, his arm in front of me for good measure. "Just stay calm," he whispered to me again.

_Yeah, right, this thing could probably smell fear!_

A head came out of the ceiling. _A freaking head!_

It opened its eyes suddenly. Pure red eyes. Blood red glowing eyes. I clutched onto Naru. And then I noticed… that woman… she isn't staring at me, is she?

Naru continued to stare her down. The woman started to creep out of the ceiling more.

_It's coming towards us! I'm so scared! Won't somebody please help?!_

The door slammed open and Monk ran in. He yelled some sort of chant and threw the fist he clutched his prayer beads in towards the glowing woman.

She disappeared, and I was cast into my familiar darkness once again. The hum of electricity came back on. _It was over… for now._

"Ah, so the spirits have started showing their faces in here too, huh?" Monk said.

Naru brushed my hands off from where I clenched his shoulders and walked over to the monitors, supposedly to check on the equipment. "Apparently," he said.

I sighed and let my legs give out from under me like I've been trying not to do.

"Hey, are you alright Mai?" Monk asked.

I just… needed a moment…

_That woman never looked at me. Not once. She only looked at Naru!_

"Come on, snap out of it," Monk interrupted my thoughts.

I looked up at him. If she wasn't looking at me, then... "That spirit was looking for Naru!" I told him

"Naru?" Monk said questioningly.

I got up. "That woman just now, it wasn't a coincidence, I know she came for him!" I turned to where Naru went over to the tables again, having deemed the equipment just fine. I had to convince them that I was telling the truth. Well… here goes nothing. "I had a dream last night, and I saw foxfires all over the school! That thing we just saw was one of them." Okay, so I said last night instead of earlier. Concerned as I am, I am NOT saying I fell asleep in base. "I can't tell you how I know that, but I'm positive I'm right. That woman eyes, those evil, bloodthirsty eyes…" I was starting to slip up again, and I held my head in my hands as I started to cry. "She was looking straight at Naru!"

Why was this bothering me so much? It may sound selfish but shouldn't I be relieved that she wasn't looking straight at me? instead, I'm more disturbed that she wasn't. I tried to imagine if it was someone else. Monk. Ayako. John. Masako. Lin. Anyone. It didn't disturb me as much as it did when I thought back to that, _No, not them, she looked at Naru!_

…What was wrong with me?

_**BLIND**_

Thursday

We were back in base, and I made Naru his tea first thing when I showed up with Monk. Since Yuasa wasn't far, we simply went back home at the end of the day. Monk or someone would pick me up from the office, and then come here. Naru and Lin usually were here before anyone else.

I handed him his tea and noticed that the area around his eyes showed he had little sleep. So that means his eyes are red, right? Before I wasn't trying to hide that I was blind so much, but suddenly… it seemed important that I do so. The weird thing was… it wasn't SPR I was worried about finding out. It was someone in the school. But… who?

Regardless, I commented on Naru's state. "What's the matter? Your eyes are all red."

Naru turned his head away and closed his eyes, averting his eyes from anyone's gaze. "Our friend came back to visit me," Naru said as he sat down. _So his eyes are red? _

"Wait a second, do you mean…" that woman… she showed up again?

"Turns out your instinct was right, she appeared at my window last evening," he said as he looked down at the case reports again. _Wait, did he call it… an instinct?_ "I thought something worse might happen if I looked away, so we spent the entire night staring at each other."

… how am I not surprised.

Lin, at some point had walked over for some reason. I'm going to presume it was to check on our _dear_ boss because the next (and first) thing he says is, "Why the hell didn't you call me?"

"Because I wanted to see what would happen."

… and they call ME reckless.

"And I thought it would be rude to wake you up for nothing," Naru continued after noticing Lin's unconvinced glare. Since when has something 'being rude' ever stopped you from doing it?

"You only had to knock on the wall! And what would you have done if something bad HAD happened?" Wow. This is the most I think I've ever heard Lin talk.

"Well obviously if it had I would have called. But we just had a little staring contest. Stop worrying," Naru said with a finality as he picked up some papers to look over them. Ah, so Naru can react this way too.

"Um, knock in the wall? You guys live together?" I was confused.

"… you could say that. Something wrong?" Naru glanced at me over his papers.

"Ah, no, just curious…"

All though this, Lin was glaring at Naru. Then he walked back to the equipment with a huff. _I get why I work for this egoistic bastard, but why does Lin? I get the feeling Lin is think around the same lines right now._

I thought back to the curse and the spirit woman.

"Then there's no way it could be Kasai," I said, more or less thinking out loud again. Realizing that one could get lost from our exert of conversation, I explained more. "I mean, for her to cast such a big curse she would have to have a lot of that PK-whatever power, wouldn't she?"

"It's PK-LT, but you are right," Naru corrected with a hint of agitation. "If she wanted to be able to affect so many people with this curse she would need quite a lot of that power."

"When we met her the first time she wasn't even able to bend that spoon," I said thoughtfully.

"That's right, and spirits appeared to all of the victims in every single incident," Naru agreed (he actually agreed on something I said!). "The Kasai theory definitely doesn't account for these apparitions."

The door to base swung open to reveal Ayako, Monk, Masako, and John. Right, Monk had to go back to get those two after dropping me off.

"Well, maybe she's just off making ethigy dolls or something," Ayako said. Apparently they caught the tail end of the conversation.

"You mean she makes dolls night after night so she can do around cursing everyone?" Monk questioned her. "I guess that's not an impossible theory."

"But whenever you use straw ethigy dolls isn't only supposed to hurt the person where the nail is driven in?" I asked.

"She's right, and dolls do not summon spirits," Masako put in.

"Of course not. Moreover they don't possess the power to have caused repeated hauntings," said Naru. Then, it seemed as if he and Lin realized something at once. "Lin!"

"Yes, it's possible that's the answer," Lin agreed.

"Hm?" _Okay, there they go being on a whole different page than me. Actually, more like a different page in a different chapter in a different book in a different series in a different section of a different library in a different country in a different world that is all in a different universe with a different language._

"Come on, fill us in," Monk insisted.

"I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner," Naru answered vaguely. He stood up to face us more directly. "We're dealing with a zuhzou."

"A zuhzou?" I questioned.

"There's an extremely powerful hex at work in this school that's calling down curses on people," Naru simplified it for the rest of us.

"Are you serious?" asked Monk.

"Okay, but what's the connection between the zuhzou and these spirits?" Ayako was getting right to business.

"This hex originally derived from the yin-yang tao. It's cast by driving a nail into a hitogata or straw ethigy doll. I'll explain this so Mai can catch up," Naru looked pointedly at me. _Gee, thanks. Jerk._ "In the yin-yang tao there's a certain method of cursing people referred to as enmi. It's a hex that uses either a hitogata or a possession of the one being cursed, and driving a nail into the straw ethigy doll is one of the enmi arts. The doll's function is to simply convey the level of hatred of the person driving the nail. The doll themselves can do no real harm. But when the hexer, the one preforming the curse, drives the nail into the hitogata, they call upon gods or spirits to deliver a death curse."

"Death curse?" Oh I SO did NOT like the sound of that.

"The gods or spirits accept the task and carry the curse to the unlucky subject. In other words, the hexer actually contracts these gods, spirits, and even demons by preforming the enmi arts," Naru continued regardless of my comment.

"So you're saying that the cursed desk, the hand that attacked Mr. Yoshino, and the woman that came down from the ceiling are all evil spirits with curses?" I tried to clarify.

"Someone has cast multiple enmi spells against people in this school, and evil spirits are appearing to those who have been cursed. The spirits aren't powerful enough to kill their targets immediately, so they torment and lead them to their deaths. It's a very indirect form of murder," Naru concluded.

"And if these attacks were to happen frequently, as they have at Yuasa, it would definitely have a negative effect on those people who are easily influenced," John added.

"Yes," said Naru, "an extreme example would be the girl who believes she was possessed by a fox." Oh right, one of the original reports. The girl was supposedly okay, but she wasn't allowed to leave home. "This explains both the incidents themselves and why the entire school was thrown into such a panic."

"So who performed the curses?" Monk brought up.

"All the evidence would seem to suggest the hexer is Kasai," Masako replied.

"Wait, hold on!" I said.

"It has to be Kasai," Ayako ignored me.

"You think so too?!" I asked her.

"Well, yeah. Look her abilities were rejected and in turn she was made fun of and attacked in front of the whole school, right? And even her teacher friend has been put through hell because of it," Ayako truthfully told. I was reminded of earlier, when the girls who were messing with Kasai commented on her and Ms. Ubusuna's relationship as comforting teacher to distraught student. "They pushed Kasai to the edge, so she called down a death curse on them. She's just making good on her threat."

"But it's not true," I said, almost unsure, and yet completely convinced.

"Then explain why Mr. Yoshino, who personally challenged and laughed at her in front of the entire school, is now in the hospital," Naru challenged.

"I don't know, but-"

"What reason do you have for believing that she's not to blame?" Naru continued without precedent to what I said.

"I'm not sure but… I do." After all I've seen, Kasai is just scared and shy, but not someone who would put curses on people. _Yeah, it isn't something I can explain. I just know deep inside that Kasai isn't the person we're looking for._ "She's not the one. I know it," I said with all the confidence I had.

It ended being me and Naru in a stare down. I wasn't backing out.

"Alright," Naru said, turning his head away slightly, "I believe you."

"You do?" I said happily.

"That's great, but someone could still die if we don't hurry," Masako reminded us all.

"We have to act. We can't leave the zuhzou out there. I'd like you all to search for the hitogata. Lin and I will go looking for the culprit," Naru told us.

"Uh, we're looking for dolls?" Monk said curiously.

"There are two ways to break an enmi spell. Turn the curse back on the hexer or burn the hitogata being used," Naru explained. "The doll is usually buried near the target. That means if the hexer is a student or school faculty member, it's most likely around here somewhere."

"Somewhere?! Oh great, that helps a lot. What do you want us to do, dig up the whole school?" Monk questioned incredulously. He is right, this may be tricky.

"Well the hexer must have buried my hitogata sometime after Monday when we started investigating, so that one should still be fresh and easier to spot," Naru said.

… your sympathy level… it's quite low.

"I guess, but… come on, this school is huge," Monk complained.

"Perhaps you'd like to leave?" Naru flaunted his authority. Wow. He usually only uses that card on me back in the office.

Monk blinked a few times before giving in. "Alright," he whined. Huh, he even had the same reaction I do when Naru does that at the office. Well, mostly.

And so, everyone ran off to search.

_**BLIND**_

"Wait a minute!" I said as I followed Naru and Lin down the hall towards classroom 2-5. Yep, the room with the cursed desk. "Naru! You can't just go in there! the class is in session right now! Don't!"

My attempts to stop them being completely in vain, they stepped right into the classroom.

I stepped in, prepared to apologize, to find the room void of students.

"Whew, I guess they must have switched rooms or something," I said in relief.

Then I found my two coworkers going through a desk, Lin holding the thing in place as Naru rummaged through it.

"Naru! You really shouldn't do that either!" I know we have to find the hitogata, but you can at least be organized about it!

"Here it is," Naru said before pulling out a small wooden board with the strip sound of tape pulling off of something.

_That's the hitogata?_

Naru handed the doll to Lin. "They did a good job on it," Lin said as he inspected it, "but it doesn't seem to be made for anyone specifically. Its only intention was to curse whoever sat at this desk."

"I think you're right," said Naru. "The hitogata caused whoever sat here to have an accident, meaning the hurt students weren't specifically targeted so much as they were just unlucky. I'll bet we'll find another one in the track team's locker room that's aimed at the entire club rather than at a single person."

So we headed to the track team's locker room. This time I didn't worry about bursting in. The locker room wouldn't be occupied during classes. Just in case, I peaked in before letting the other two in.

"The floor's concrete. They're usually buried, right?" Naru observed, meaning that the hitogata probably couldn't have been buried there.

"Usually yes, but it's quite possible they've been hidden in the ceiling," Lin responded. Them having wordlessly decided to check the ceiling before breaking concrete and therefore looking for a stool or ladder to use, I checked out the window, sending my senses out. _No, even if it was done months ago nothing seems to be buried out here-_

And then, I tripped as I stepped away from the window.

_OW! Oh, hey, what's that?_

My senses picked up a deep crack in the concrete in the corner. On a hunch, I tried to lift it up.

Surprise, surprise. Another hitogata.

"Found it!" I announced. Naru walked over to investigate. I stood and handed him my find.

"Good work, Mai," Naru praised.

"Oh, no prob." …Ah, I feel warm. Why is that?

"This one is enmi as well. The cursed desk and the track team. If we dig a little deeper we're sure to find the culprit soon," Naru said.

We headed back to base shortly after to do some research.

Then, there was a scream. I was about to run out… But then Ayako burst into the room with no warning. "It's Masako!" she yelled before heading out to check on her. I ran out after her, but then lost her. I ended up hearing another scream.

"Nooooo!" she screamed and then sobbed from in the biology room.

"Mai, come on!" Monk ran past. I nodded. Right, Masako just got hurt. Sorry Kasai, I'll be back!

And so I ran after Monk.

_**BLIND**_

Omake (because everyone loves them, right?)

"What is that?" I whispered to myself.

"Now don't make any sudden movements," Naru said quietly, stepping in forward and pushing me behind him slightly, his arm in front of me for good measure. "Just stay calm," he whispered to me again.

_Yeah, right, this thing could probably smell fear!_

We watched as the little toddler moved forward, giggling as he played with the teacups. Man, I actually liked that set! At least it hasn't spotted us yet.

Who thought that "Bring Your Child and/or Little Sibling to Work/School Day" would end up like this?!

It turned out that one of the little monsters had ran off and found base. Naru was all for throwing the thing out, and by now, I was too.

_Why did Monk let it __in?_

Ayako and Lin had already suffered their dues. Ayako was washing glue out of her hair and Lin was trying to get whatever substance was on his shoe, _off_. Oddly, he wouldn't tell us what, but baby slobber was my solid guess.

Masako? She was smart. She saw the kid and fled like hell was at her heels. Now I see that she might have been right about that.

Naru and I came in, but didn't see _it_ until we were on the other side of the room and _it_ was in our way.

And how was my _dear friend_ Monk taking all of this? He had swiped one of the cameras and was RECORDING the WHOLE DAMN THING.

"Come on, Mai," Naru whispered, and we inched along. We were almost to the door when it happened.

It spotted us. And it smiled.

"GO GO GO!" I yelled, pushing Naru as the little monstrosity started taking wobbly steps towards us.

We were almost out the door. We had it opened and we were halfway out. The toddler grabbed our legs.

"HWELLOW!" the _thing_ said, looking up at us. I faced at it, then Naru. _Oh no, I know that face. That usually appears right when he's about to do something truly evil._

And guess what? I was right. Somehow he pried the bugger off his leg, onto mine, and was out the door in about half a second. I faced the door, then the thing on my leg. "Hiya, I'm Sichi!"

Three hours later, the bugger was gone and I glared at Naru as I started to wipe the marker off my face. Naru? Oh, he was smirking. Big time. Usually I was good with kids… as long as they were either 'Can't talk or walk' or 'I'm past the age of glitter glue and markers, and know the basic concept of being a halfway decent human being'. This thing that came through, Sichi? He was neither.

Remind not to trust Naru if I, oh I don't know, have to hold onto him so I don't fall down a hole and break my neck or something.

So what did I do for revenge on my boss?

Well, I hope he enjoys vinegar mixed with milk and salt in his tea.

_**BLIND**_

**Okay, so this has been asked about… a lot. So I'm going to clear things up. **

**I plan to do my own cases but I wanted to do so **_**after**_** they figured out that Mai is a psychic. Why? So Mai will pay at least some sort of attention during her dreams. Plus, that would put me farther along in the series to where I feel comfortable in doing so. If Mai had figured out she was psychic during the Doll House Case, I would be writing my own case now. I **_**could**_** have made it where she figured out she was psychic earlier (and now that I think about it, it would be wiser), but meh, too bad. I didn't. Sorry. Plus I'm not sure how that would affect the others. So that's why I have the 'A week at the office' chapter, plus that set up quite a few things for the future. Incidentally, the timing would have been perfect to do it before this case, as they only take cases far and few. But, like I said, I sorta NEED her to know she's psychic. It has to do with figuring some things out and calling Gene 'That guy in my dreams'. It gets irritating. So I would initially put the case right after this one. However, it appears the manga writer had the same idea, and put not one, but TWO cases before the next one in the novels start. **

**So where and when, pray tell, am I going to put a case of my own?**

**Well, the first one I'm putting in is going to be after Yasu's school's case. So, about February or March in the world of Ghost Hunt. Sorry, you still have some more cases to go along in the anime, and sorry if it's like reading the whole series that you already know about. I realize that. But, on the plus side, the characters are more developed, have a more withstanding relationship level, Mai knows she a psychic (so I get to play around with that), and Yasu is there. (Yes, Yasu is one of my favorite characters, and I used to be a real solid Yasu/Mai shipper. Heck, I still do on occasion. Seriously, watch through the first episode or two with Yasu in them and watch the two interact.)**

**So yes, I will do my own cases, but starting it won't be until another three or four cases (depending on how you count, it could be either or). And yes, since it will be around Valentine's Day and White Day (depending on about where I place it), I will play around with that. Sorta a treat, I suppose, for making you wait so long.**

**I also plan to do the last manga chapter case (The Forgotten Children), and if I find any more of the White Heart series translated or the newest manga translated fully on at least one case by the time I get there, I will add it as well. If not, I will then have full reign.**

**We all good then? **

**GOOD! Here's some notes for ya!**

***1 Remember that Japanese school systems are different, and that Mai is currently sixteen. Just a friendly reminder.**

***2 TOTALLY guessed on spelling onmiyoudo. I think I did it right this time, though, unlike when I had to start spelling onmyouji**

***3 Okay, so I just sorta realized that I can't think of any genuine PK users in the series who's names (alias or not) don't start with a K. Kuroda. Kasai. Kazuya. Although Naru's **_**is**_** an alias, I suppose since he goes by it enough for a hitogata made for him with the name Kazuya Shibuya on it to affect him, well, we can count it.**

***4 In the novels, Monk explains it.**

***5 Hopefully, you know what telepathy and clairvoyance are. Telepathy is the ability to read another person's mind, and clairvoyance is pretty broad, but basically it means you know things others don't, like if you somehow knew when my birthday is, but I never told you. Mai falls into that category, since her intuition tells her whether to trust someone or not, and Naru and Gene were telepathic, but only to each other since they are twins. Twins can have abilities that only work for each other, such as knowing if the other is in pain. Sometimes, twins will make up and use their own language. Close siblings may or may not be able to do this too. I'm not sure. Usually these abilities only show up in identical twins, presumably because they developed in similar ways, even more similar than just being in the same womb at the same time, and their brains would be wired in similar ways, including the language center of the brain (as well as the other parts). If I'm wrong on that, well, as always, feel free to correct me. **

***6 So basically, other than some editing choices by me, that whole section is from the novel. I do NOT own it, I swear. I haven't done research on Meyer or Rolfe, but I have done some on the Nine K-whatever her name was (again with the K!). She did stop a frog's heart. As far as I can tell, though, she **_**didn't**_** stop a human's heart. At least, I haven't found that story anywhere else but in the light novels. The ASPR is the American Society of Psychical Research and it does exist, as does the British counterpart, SPR. They are very real. They have websites and everything, if you want to check those out. They're actually quite interesting. Just Google them and they should show up. Oh, and the part with Ayako talking about if the spoon wasn't a spoon? Yeah, I have NO IDEA what she is talking about. I decided to leave that up there for some odd reason that I can't recall. Hmph. Ah, also, in the manga and the novel, this is the part where they talk about Oliver Davis. AND, if you go to the manga and read the part where they mention him, the panel they do it in has Naru in it, just going through some papers. That little brat. It's so bluntly obvious now, but still! And this is the part where they mention the video with the block being slammed into the wall. During THAT panel, it has Masako huffing or exhaling quietly, and looked all sad. That, ladies and gents, is foreshadowing, and a very, VERY good use of it.**

***7 Once again, I'm freaking out over the choice of words. Naru confessed… and yet, not in that context. Gotta love language. (I know this was basically useless as a star, but I decided you'd like a small one)**

**Uth. There. if you're in America or other participating countries… HAPPY LATE MOTHER'S DAY!**

**(Pst- I got a double wammy on that. It's also my grandmother's birthday)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Okay, so my email screwed up and I just thought I was getting nothing from anyone, not even my spam mailers. And then, lo and behold, I get 20 emails out of basically NOWHERE and so, after this is posted, I'm going to respond to all of you and stuff, okay? **

**But… *sigh***

**Have you guys ever had that moment while watching and reading through lots of series, you realize you really are an amateur and have so much to learn that you just get into a slump? Well, that's my current situation.**

**Self confidence in drawing- next to none.**

**Self confidence in writing- well, I didn't have much to start, but HELL, this is a new low.**

**Self confidence as a story maker- yeah, there isn't much there.**

**Self confidence as a person believing in my own talents- Ha! No.**

**BUT, while I AM in a bit of a slump, surrounded by all these amazing writers and such, you guys like this story-for reasons I still can't quite fathom-so I'll still update. I don't want to leave this unfinished. I will not abandon this story.**

**Besides, sometimes you need to acknowledge your levels of talent and skill in order to improve. Trust me, there is ALWAYS room to improve.**

**So after I finish this, I'm probably going to go look through my bookshelf, find a book, and find stuff that could have been improved. That's where most of my ideas come from-other ideas!**

**(PS-this little phase of mine was also induced by looking through some old story stuff on my computer, and a few of them are Ghost Hunt fanfic… snippets are probably the best word for it. I'm tempted to put them on here so if I feel like writing it, it'll be on fanfiction and I can get more room on my laptop for other things. As for the non-fanfic ones…. I sometimes wonder what the hell I was thinking while behind my keyboard….)**

**Ah, well, whatever. It happens. It'll pass. Besides, I'm taking a creative writing class over the summer, so that should help too.**

**But, the reason I said anything about it is, well, it's one of the reasons I didn't update yet. I just really needed a break. Plus, I do the majority of my writing on weekends, and for reasons I'm still not sure of, I got really busy really quick.**

**I don't own Ghost Hunt. I'd feel sorry for the lot of you if I did…**

**ENJOY!**

_**BLIND**_

_**Shibuya Psychic Research began preforming exorcisms to try to stop the dangerous phenomenon at Yuasa High School… But nothing changed. **_

_**The accident with the guidance counselor… Kasai supposedly cursing him…**_

_**The truth is… things were only getting worse.**_

_**That woman never looked at me. Not once! She only looked at Naru!**_

"_**We're dealing with a zuhzou. Someone has cast multiple enmi spells against people in this school, and evil spirits are appearing to those who have been cursed," is what Naru said.*1**_

_**Masako and Ayako believe that Kasai is to blame for everything, but I honestly don't think it's her. **_

_**Then we found hitogata used for the zuhzou hex in all of the places connected to these incidents, just like Naru said. If we can just find the person who made the dolls the case will be solved and we can go home. **_

_**I hope we figure it out soon….**_

_**BLIND**_

Thursday

The ambulance came and picked up Masako. She lay unconscious on the stretcher as we watched (in my case, sensed) her get put into the back of the vehicle.

And naturally, rumors had already started spreading.

"_I heard she saw something…"_

"_It's the same thing that Mr. Yoshino saw…"_

"_It's gotta be a curse!"_

"_Come on you know it's her. Who else would do this?"_

"_I hope I don't meet Kasai in a dark hallway."_

I could practically hear Kasai scream and cry on her teacher's shoulder.

"Call us soon and let us know how she's doing, okay?" Ayako said as John climbed in the back of the ambulance.

"Right," he said, looking over his shoulder at the rest of us. "You guys try to be careful, okay?"

With that, the ambulance door closed with a soft _swoosh_ and they drove off to the hospital, sirens blaring loudly as they went.

We were now down two members, just like when Masako fell through the wall at our first case.

I hope she's okay…

_**BLIND**_

We had all gathered in base once again to plan our next move. We had not, however, calmed down enough to have an actual civil conversation to make a legitimate plan.

Example A…

"Shouldn't we just go ahead and get this Kasai girl locked down?! Our lives are in danger here!"

… it stands for Ayako.

Example B…

"You can't! This isn't her fault I swear!"

… that would stand for 'bone-headed', AKA me.

Ayako turned back with a snap. "You still believe that crap?! Then tell us who IS doing it, otherwise but out!"

I reeled back slightly. "Uh, well it's… I guess I don't know…" I put my head down in shame.

_We need to figure out who it is!_

"Whoever it is, they're warning us," Naru's calm voice rang out.

"What do you mean?" I said, facing up once again.

"We must be getting close to something," Naru started explaining. "The hexer attacked Miss Hara and I to warn us from digging any deeper."

"That's a hell of a warning!" Ayako pointed out. "Masako was pushed down the stairs, Naru. This is serious!"

"Yeah," Monk agreed, speaking up for the first time in our conversation. "And not to toot my own horn or anything, but who knows what would have happened to you if I hadn't scared away that spirit earlier."

"So as long as we get the message, the hexer doesn't really care if one of us is hurt or killed," said Naru. "That tells us a bit more about the kind of person we're dealing with and makes our resolving this case quickly all the more imperative." Then, as Naru had a tendency to do when he was thinking or trying to get us to think, he started listing the facts of the case. "The targets were Mr. Yoshino, the unfortunate sophomores who sat at that desk and had accidents one after another, and the entire track team. And let's not forget, the hitogata we found in the desk and the locker room make it clear that the culprit was after someone connected to them. "

And thus, Naru purposed his plan of action.

"I think we're all aware of that working on this case poses a risk, and for that reason we should want to expose the hexer as soon as we possibly can. Lin, Mai, and myself will investigate those connected to the desk and the track team. Monk, you and Ms. Matsuzaki will continue to search the school for hitogata," he said, watching us critically.

"Yeah, right," Monk and Ayako solemnly agreed to the plan.

Of course, they didn't do it without complaint. As such, here is what I gathered out of what happened out there:

"_Uph, how come we always end up doing the grunt work?" Monk complained as he checked through some bushes._

"_Yeah, I wish Naru would leave his computer and get his hands dirty for a change," Ayako grumbled from where she was going through a different bush. "Oh, no! My nails are ruined!" she said as she brought her nails closer to her face to inspect them. "I just got this manicure!"_

_A young girl was watching them sadly as they worked. She did not, however, go unnoticed. After a moment of brooding over her poor manicure, she noticed the long-haired teen as she peeked at them from behind a pillar. "Monk," Ayako said to gain his attention, "come here."_

_Monk groaned. "What now?" he said, hoping she wasn't going to say something about her skirt next. Then he noticed her. The girl, upon seeing that she was caught, ran back into the school building. _

"_That long hair… Do you think that could've been the Kasai girl spying on us?" Ayako assumed, considering they had only had descriptions of the girl they she had constantly been accusing. _

What was I doing at the time? I was in base with Lin and Naru as they interviewed our number one informant on this case, _again_. Yuuko Takahashi.

"So you're trying to figure out if the desk and the track team have a connection," Taka said, trying to make sure she understood what Naru wanted out of this.

"Who was the first student to sit in that seat?" Naru went on to question. In the elusive language of Naru, that translates to 'You are correct so we aren't going to bother with it anymore and get on with what I need to know'.

Apparently Taka understood at least part on Naru language because she went ahead and answered him. "Uh, first term… I honestly don't remember. But I know that Murayama sat there second term."

"When exactly would that have been?" Naru shot out next.

"Oh, let's see the first seating change was in the middle of September," Taka said, giving herself a pause to think. "See, at our school we always change seat on the fifteenth day of every month, so it must have been from July fifteenth to September, uh, fourteenth, with summer vacation in the middle."*2

"When did Murayama have her accident?" he continued his questioning.

"A couple of days before the seating change, I think," Taka answered after a moment.

"Alright. That means that the culprit must have put the hitogata inside the desk sometime between July fifteenth and September eleventh or twelfth." *3

"Hitogata?" Taka questioned, only to be ignored.

"The accidents started happening midway through September, so the student before Murayama probably wasn't connected," Naru said as he walked over to the window. I had no idea whether he was looking at something or himself. _Or is it something else? I know he's a narcissist but I doubt that this habit of his has anything to do with that…_ "I think it's a safe bet that Murayama must've done something to anger the hexer during that period."

"Anger?" I questioned.

"Oh yes, that's obvious. They had to have had a grudge of some kind. Our culprit knew Murayama, or at least what she looked like, which means we can probably rule out teachers she didn't have and students in other grades."

"Um," Taka inputted, "I don't know. Sometimes substitutes or administration type people come in. Plus there are club meetings and stuff that other kids come to." *4 Then Taka gasped and brought a hand to her mouth.

"Hey, what is it?" I asked, concerned.

"Well," Taka responded after a moment, "it happened during the Kasai Panic… Some of us kept dragging Kasai into our classroom to see the spoon-bending thing. It really was pretty cool, you know. But one time Murayama just totally stormed in and started yelling at us. She said," Taka took a moment and I guessed mimicked Murayama's voice, "'Would you guys give it a rest? I'm so sick of this supernatural crap! I mean, come on! It's really just a cheap trick, right?'" Taka returned her voice to normal before continuing. "I guess Murayama was pretty upset because she even went to talk to Ms. Ubusuna."

"Ms. Ubusuna?" I questioned. _ Why go to her?_

"Uh, yeah," Taka nodded. "She knows a ton about psychic powers and stuff… Didn't you guys know that? I've even gone to ask her questions about it before. I remember her talking about psychokinesis… Like the three types of PK that there are. I remember trying to see if I could make a die roll a two, ya know, since she said it wasn't that uncommon… No dice—er, forgive the pun. Looks like I'm as normal as they come… But Kasai was different. I think maybe that's why she always stuck up for Kasai, even when the whole school went crazy over psychic stuff and people started taking sides."

"And this is the teacher Murayama complained to about Kasai?" Naru spoke up for the first time, finally turned to look over his shoulder at Taka and tearing his eyes away from the window. _Er, it IS a window, right?_

"Uh huh," Taka nodded in confirmation again. "Ms. Ubusuna said if she stepped in it would just stir things up, but pretty soon the other teachers and the PTA started freaking out about it."

"So Murayama was the first person to reject psychic powers… Quite interesting," Naru said, seemingly to himself.

"Wow, you know I hadn't even thought about it until just now, but I don't think the track team had a lot of believers either," Taka spoke up suddenly. I turned to look at her and, since she apparently noticed me looking at her, she explained further. "Well, Mr. Yoshino was the team's advisor and he _really_ didn't believe, so the team ended up doing… you know… whatever he said."

I evaluated Naru's expression at this piece of information.

He was thinking. Hard.

_**BLIND**_

A bit of time later found Taka out of base. Naru was looking over a laptop screen. I peered over his shoulder, pretending I didn't absolutely hate screens and monitors with a passion.

"Here it is," Naru said. "Looks like everyone who spoke against our friend, Kasai, eventually experienced some kind of harm."

"Okay, so then…" I trailed of, not sure how to finish the sentence.

Naru straightened up before responding. "The probability that Kasai is the culprit has just skyrocketed."

"Hey," I interjected, "what do you mean?"

"Zuhzou doesn't work for just any person who attempts it. Only those who've had special training or are very knowledgeable about supernatural powers can perform them," Naru explained.

"But remember, you said Kasai's power was unstable, Naru! You did!" I argued. Naru took a look of surprise or realization, but I continued on. "And that would mean, it'd be hard for someone like her to control a zuhzou, isn't that right?"

"Yeah, that's a good point," Naru ACTUALLY agreed. "Very true."

"And when it comes to knowledge, I'm sure Ms. Ubusuna would be able to, wouldn't she? She'd have some sort of motive too! So Kasai can't be the only suspect!" *5 _I mean, I do get weird vibes from her. Or maybe this case is just getting to me?_

"Even so, she'd still have to have some sort of psychic powers," Naru said, ever the voice of reason. _Right, why would Ms. Ubusuna do it? She's not a psychic, right?_ Then, I noted Naru had a far-off expression on. Thinking. Again. _He does that a lot. One day he's going to get stuck in that brain of his and one of us is going to have to bring him back out. _"… No, I doubt it…" he mumbled to himself. Then he looked at me. _Crap._ "Besides, why target me? If we were getting close, why not target all of us?"

"Maybe because, I don't know, you're sorta _in charge_?" I suggested. I didn't really know. Besides, Ms. Ubusuna? Who would suspect her? "Or maybe she just got tired of your narcissism."

Ah, Naru's giving me a look. Or rather, a glare. I should shut it now.

We stayed like that until, finally satisfied that I had become silent for a little while, he went back to thinking.

I stayed like that for a moment before deciding asking a question I actually had been wondering about for a while. "Didn't you say zuhzou came from onmiyoudo?" Naru simply turned to look at me for an answer, prompting me to continue. "So then an onmyouji could dispel them, right?" I thought back to when I was talking to Kasai earlier. "In the hallway I told Kasai that you're one of those, and her reaction was kinda weird."

"Why did you tell her that?" Naru said, his tone... well, it was strange. "I am no such thing."

"Huh? You're not?" Okay, now I was just confused.

"Of course not," he brushed it off as nothing.

"Eh?!" I took a step back and pointed a finger at him accusingly. "But you used a hitogata in that case before, didn't you? And Monk said only an onmyouji could do that!"

"Actually, Lin made it," Naru relented.

"What? So you mean Lin's an onmyouji?"

"Yes, I guess you could say that."

… _You guess? What kind of answer is that?_

"Oh, but, I guess it still looks pretty bad for Kasai, doesn't it?" I got back to the subject at hand. "That she's the person behind all of this."

"Well if she thought I was a threat and hexed me for fear that I'd dispel her zuhzou, then yes, it looks bad for her," Naru said.

"But what if," I searched my mind for a solution or explanation, or… anything, really. "What if she didn't mean to do it? Like she did it subconsciously or something and didn't know?" _Okay, that was lame._

"She would know," Naru didn't hesitate to answer. "Practicing enmi involves actively cursing the subject."

"Oh, then…" I couldn't say it. It wasn't true. "No, it's not right!" I voiced out exactly how I felt. "Kasai isn't the kind of person who would do this!"

"Is this intuition talking again?" Naru stated coldly.

Quietly, I bowed my head and nodded. _I know that Kasai is innocent._

I could feel his eyes on me. Even if I had adverted my senses straight at my shoes, I could still feel them.

"Alright, if that's what your gut is telling you, I'll trust it," Naru said, surprising me enough to face him and sense his face to see if he was pulling a trick. He was… being truthful! "But right now I need to look something up. Go find the others and help them search for the hitogata."

"Uh," I said, curious as to what he was going off to research about. But hey… I search better than anyone else! "Okay!" I smiled at his retreating back as he closed the base door.

_**BLIND**_

"What did you say?" Ayako questioned.

"You're kidding, right?" Monk was equally upset and surprised.

_Oh, I knew this wasn't going to go well_.

"I'm not," I said truthfully. "You just made some wrong assumptions about Naru, that's all."

"But come one, making hitogata, performing a purifications, and now this zuhzou thing? Of course we'd think he's an onmyouji! Anyone would," Monk protested. _Hey, don't shoot the messenger._

"Well, according to Naru, Lin can do it," I said, my voice a bit small.

"So I ruined a perfectly good manicure for nothing," Ayako said, looking at her nail mournfully. _Never saw the appeal in that, and I mean that quite literally. And I wouldn't say it was for nothing…_

"And I've been putting up with his crap because I thought, 'Oh, he's a master, we have to do what master says!'" Monk was, to put it nicely, very upset. _I am not sympathetic. You were the one to make the assumption. Besides, he's still the boss, you idiot!_

I knew my face was probably between wanting to sooth them and wanting to whack some sense into their skulls… Oh, is that… "Ms. Ubusuna?" I ventured to say, sensing around Monk who stood right in the way. Monk and Ayako turned to see our newest arrival.

"Yes," Ms. Ubusuna confirmed it was her. "I just heard that Masako Hara was injured."

"Yeah, she fell down the stairs," I spoke up, seeing as Ayako and Monk weren't saying anything.

"Is she alright?"

This time, Ayako spoke up, pivoting on her heels to properly face Ms. Ubusuna. "At the moment it doesn't appear to be life-threatening, but if she had landed any differently things could've been a lot worse." Oh, so I guess John called her... "Maybe you'll see this as an opportunity to wake up and take a good look at this girl you're so interested in defending."

"Ayako!" I scolded. Strange how that happens, she's older than me, around Ms. Ubusuna's age to be honest.

"Oh I knew it," Ms. Ubusuna looked down at her shoes remorsefully. "You've chosen to believe Kasai is to blame for all this too, haven't you?"

"Of course we do," Ayako said.

"There's certainly no reason _not_ to suspect her," Monk echoed.

"She's so scared, I really worry about her," said Ms. Ubusuna. "I'm not sure… what she'll do."

"Wait a minute, she wouldn't kill herself, would she?" I asked.

"I doubt it," Ayako responded. "I saw her over there spying on me and Monk earlier. For all we know maybe the 'little dear' is deciding who she wants to curse next."

"Who do you think you-"

"I'm sorry!" I stopped Ms. Ubusuna mid-sentence, accidentally pushing her slightly as I put my hands on her shoulders. I backtracked slightly and faced her completely. "Really, I'm so sorry." I bowed my head in apology. "I don't think that way. I mean, I don't think Kasai's causing all these things to happen." I straightened out. "I'm not sure how I know it's true, but I can feel it!"

Ms. Ubusuna cocked her head slightly in confusion. "You feel it?"

"There's a voice inside of me…" _I know that Kasai is innocent. _"I can't say it's anything more than my gut feeling, but it's so strong I have to believe it with all my heart."

"My goodness," Ms. Ubusuna said, sounding quite surprised. "And what's your name?"

_What a strange question… _ "Mai Taniyama," I said, since she may want to use either my first or last name.

"Thank you, Mai," Ms. Ubusuna sweetly thanked. "That means a lot, and I know Kasai will be very happy to hear it too."

… Why do I feel there was a double meaning somewhere in there? Oh well. I smiled at her happily. If anyone would be able to tell Kasai, it would Ms. Ubusuna.

"I would really appreciate it if the rest of you would stop accusing that young girl," Ms. Ubusuna addressed Ayako and Monk bluntly. "The poor thing has been through enough as it is… Good day." And so, she walked back into the school.

"How can we stop accusing her?" Ayako shot at Ms. Ubusuna's back once she was out of hearing range. "What if something worse happens because we sat back and didn't act in time?"

"Yeah, and it's starting to look like it could be our turn next," Monk reasoned out.

Shortly after, we broke up to cover more ground over the school.

_**BLIND**_

It was starting to get cold. It was almost sunset, I think. It obviously didn't exactly apply to me to be worried about light anywhere, including outside. I checked the watch I had on my wrist—I broke the glass face so I could read it—and sure enough, the time revealed that it had been hours since I started looking.

"Nothing here," I looked behind another bush outside of the school. "Man I've looked everywhere that seems like a good hiding place."

I straightened out and scratched my head. _Where to look next… maybe I should check into base, see if anyone else has any news._

Just then, I heard a quiet sobbing. I turned around to find the part of the school that had construction. _Aren't they building a new student hall, or something? But, it's off limits, isn't it? Why would anyone be there?_

I walked closer to try and hear the sobbing again. It got louder as I got closer.

_Is that a little kid?_ I couldn't sense anything-

Oh, a kid's bag… is it? No, it can't… "Is someone out there?" I ventured out. "Hello?" I waited for a response.

More sobbing.

I tried to sensing around to find the gate_… but what if there's an alarm?_ With that reasoning in mind, I climbed over the fence and jumped down on the other side. _Suddenly, I'm glad for my overly-zealous gym teacher…_

"Where are you?" I yelled. "Can you hear me?" When all I got was more sobbing, I started walking around, hoping to find another trace of anyone out here. "Please don't cry, just tell me where you are! Come on, it's okay!"

Where is this kid?! I know I'm not just imagining this… Then I noticed something. A… manhole? "Oh, how did someone get in there?" It's lid was slightly off. A kid could have easily fallen in and gotten stuck or scared, I suppose. I pulled the heavy lid off more before peering down.

… There, a kid. I can sense her clearly. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked down to her. Just more crying. "Don't worry I'm going to come down to help you."

I slowly started down the ladder, hoping that it was stable enough to not break on me. The creaking it made, however, did not reassure me of that.

"Mai!" I heard someone say. I was so focused on the kid and the ladder I didn't send my senses to check for anyone else out here! I found Naru standing by the fence… right next to the gate. _So that's where it is…_ "What are you doing in there?" he shouted over. It WAS quite a distance from the fence…

"There's a kid trapped in here," I shouted back to explain.

"A… kid?" he said to himself. If I couldn't read lips, I probably wouldn't have been able to tell what he said.

"Yeah, they dropped their backpack over…" The ground where the bag had laid didn't have a bag. Just dirt. "Where did it go?" I said breathlessly. _It was right there-!_

And because my timing to do things, such as being a klutz, is so wonderful, my foot slipped right then. "AH!" I grabbed hold of the side of hole for dear life… and I probably WAS holding on for my dear life.

"Mai!" Naru burst through the gate. _Well, there's no alarm, I guess._

"Don't worry, I'm fine," I said, though the hysteria in my tone probably wasn't all that convincing.

Then, I felt a tug. _Not fine, not fine!_ I sensed to see what had my leg-

-and I saw, yes, SAW the little girl from earlier, the look on her face completely telling her intentions to pull me down.

Apparently Naru noticed my predicament, or maybe the fact I was losing ground fast, but either way he was running fast.

But, the fence was so far… it was quite a distance to run… I tucked my senses into myself as I had a habit of doing when I'm about to get hurt and waited for the impact…

I lost grip and started to scream as I fell… But then I stopped suddenly. I sent my senses out to find Naru had a firm grip on my wrist. "Listen to me," he said, his voice urgent, "calmly put your foot on the ladder. Can you do that?"

"Uh, yeah," I slowly lifted my leg to where the rung was, carefully moving my weight.

But then, it broke.

And we fell.

… You know those times when time just… slows down? Every detail becomes so vividly clear, it's almost sharp to even think about? Well, this wasn't one of those times.

Because I had spazzed out, my senses _did_ got hyper active and I totally sensed the rocks at the bottom of this stupid pit and I did sense that Naru had fallen in after me and I did sense the ground as we both came hurtling towards us. But then there was a bright yellow light, and the rocks moved. Or maybe I finally became delusional in my moments before my probable death.

... But it happened so fast. Maybe the rocks I thought were at the bottom were really just pebbles on the ground… the ground we hurtled towards… well, we still were going to hit it, but I may have confused the thin walls around us with the ground a few times. Maybe I had turned over myself several times, and maybe I imagined it when I was tucked securely into Naru's arms….

It was just so fast.

And then, it was over. Just like that. I hurt my wrist somehow. I fell down a hole. But, all in all, I was alive. I think.

In hindsight, maybe I should make sure that if I was going to play hero… well, sidekicks are there for a reason.

Heroes, no matter how mighty, will one day fall. The bigger they are, the harder they fall…

In my case, the actual falling part just might be a bit more literal.

I held my wrist carefully. Well, it wasn't broken. Bruised? Yes. Broken like the ladder and probably our only way out? No, it wasn't broken like that.

"I fell down the well in our last investigation too…" I muttered to myself. "I wonder why this stuff always happens to me?"

"Are you alright?" a voice said, scaring me half to death. I found Naru behind me, sitting against the wall.

_I think I've had enough near-death experiences for one day._

"Oh Naru, did you fall in too?" I asked. So I wasn't completely wrong when I thought Naru fell in after me… but I totally imagined the part where he held me. Didn't I?

"You were holding on to my hand so tightly, it was kind of hard not to," Naru said, holding one of his arms gently. _Did I grip his hand? Ah, I don't remember…_

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't know the ladder would break," I apologized anyway. Regardless, it was sorta my fault we were stuck here. If only that damn ladder had stayed together… "I guess someone will come rescue us soon."

"Did you tell anyone you'd be here?" Naru asked.

"Uh, no. This wasn't exactly planned…" I admitted guiltily.

"Me neither," Naru admitted himself.

Deciding to see if anyone was close enough to hear, considering I really couldn't sense up or down tunnels very well and therefore couldn't sense anyone, I yelled. "Hey! Somebody!"

All I got were crows. _You are SO not helping!_

"What possessed you to come down here anyway?" Naru interrupted my obviously fruitless attempt at getting help.

"Well you see… I heard this kid crying, so I started looking around and sen-saw a little girl down here," I retold the tale. _Oh, crap, I almost said 'sensed' instead of 'saw'! Wait, what about that girl?_

I quickly sensed around me, searching to see if that little brat of a ghost was still around. _She's gone. Of course, why didn't I think it was strange? It was so far down I couldn't even sense the bottom, but I could sense her just fine! And… her bag, I thought it was nothing, but I think her bag had a strange glow to it! It was so dark a glow, I didn't think it was even possible! Dammit Mai, if you're blind and you see things glowing, you need to run!_

"So now we know they've decided to attack you as well," Naru interrupted my self-lecture.

"Oh my gosh, Naru! How can you be so calm in such a scary place? And it's going to be night soon," I said, more than just a trace of hysteria lacing my tone. _Once it's all dark those spirits might appear again! I know it doesn't really apply to me, but usually ghosts appear at night, don't they?_

Then, as my temper would show, I got mad for no reason at all. _ And of COURSE I have to be down here with the most cold-hearted person IN THE WORLD! Sure I guess I made him fall but I didn't mean too! And I'm scared and he could at least try to comfort me a little or be nice and encouraging!_

_Hold on… _My thoughts took another sudden turn. _If you think about it… this is like our own little private world! Why the heck am I so excited about that? It appears that hysteria is still here with us… And maybe I can actually learn something about Naru for once! Wouldn't it be nice to know him even a little bit more?_

"Feeling better now?" the said male interrupted my little imagination party of one.

"Oh, yeah!" I turned and… he was… smiling ever so slightly? But just like that, he turned his head, and the expression was lost. _Wow. He just seemed like the guy in my dreams… you know, if I could see Naru or sense that other guy… but maybe I imagined it? Hysteria and all… it's not like I can blame it on the lighting…_ "Could you tell I was feeling better?" I said, deciding that talking to Naru was better than letting my imagination run wild again.

"Of course," he responded as I sat down next to him by the wall. "You usually get depressed first, and then you get mad, but you normally tend to bounce back pretty quickly after that." _Hey, he's… right…_

"Gosh, how do you know that about me?" I was curious now. How did he already noticed what I just now found out?

"Because it's written all over your face." I brought my hands up to my face. I could literally FEEL the blush. _It is? Oh man…_ "Hey, would you like to meet my pet?" Naru asked. He took my curious look as a yes, I think. "Come on out here," he said as he lifted his hand and, with a twist of his fingers, brought a coin out.

"That's your pet?" Did he hit his head or something? I know he lived a relatively solitary existence, but… "Come on, it's just a piddlely little 500 yen."*6

The coin shook in response, then went back into his palm with another move of his fingers. "You see, he hid because you made fun of him," Naru said.

"No!" I defended, pointing at his hand. "You've just got it in your hand!"

"Really?" He moved his hands up and opened them.

"Eh?" I said in surprise. It disappeared!

He reached around his left shoulder, then reached behind his right elbow. "Ah, there he is," he said pulling the coin back out from where it supposedly hid.

"How'd you do that? Naru, let me see it!" I asked him. Usually I could sense through magic tricks. Definitely made magic shows less fun… but he didn't hide it behind his fingers, not discreet movement of his hands to hide it, nothing.

"Catch," he said, flicking it in the air. I caught it! Or… not?

"Hey! You didn't even throw it!" I accused.

"I guess your yelling scared him so much he had to hide again," Naru decided to play innocent, showing that his hands were, in fact, empty.

"Naru, I did not yell!" I yel—er, said with a slightly louder than normal voice.

He moved his hand up to the collar of his jacket. "Ah," he said, pulling the coin back out again, "so that's where he was."

"You're really good at magic," I said.

"So you believe it's magic?" Naru asked.

"Yeah, it is, right?"

"No it's not," a strange little voice said.

"Woah, " I reeled back a bit. _The… coin... did it just…?_

"You're not afraid of Mai, are you?" Naru asked the coin.

"Mm-hmm," the coin supposedly agreed. *7

"You don't have to be afraid of her. I promise she's not nearly as scary as she comes across," Naru 'reassured' the coin.

_How cool! I had no idea he was a ventriloquist too! But even though I know that it looks like the coin is really talking! His mouth didn't even move!_

"Keep going," I requested when he stopped. "Please do some more, Naru."

"I'm afraid he's decided to retire for the time being," Naru said, taking my hand and closing my fingers around the coin.

"Why? Don't you feel okay?" I asked, holding onto the coin.

"I wish I had some gear," Naru said, almost to himself.

_I know I'm blind… but he doesn't seem okay. Something's… off. He didn't get any sleep last night, either, because of that ghost. Maybe I should keep him talking… to distract him. Or myself…_

I checked the time discreetly by sensing my watch without bringing it up to my face like I usually did. I usually tried to at least seem like I could see. It was way less creepy that way... I think the sun must be down by now… "It's pretty dark down here…" I said, turning my head this way and that.

"Are you scared of the dark?" Naru asked.

"Ah, no. It's just… ghosts come out more when it's nighttime, right? So… I was worried about that," I shrugged.

"I didn't think you were. You've left the base dark quite a few times without realizing it," Naru looked at me curiously. _Why do I feel like he's interrogating me?_

"I guess you could say I have good night vision… like that box over there… those big stones over there—I'm guessing we probably wouldn't be talking if we hit those—and... I'm blabbering again."

"It's okay," Naru said. "It's good to keep distracted like this."

Oh right. We were still stuck down here, ghosts could come out at any minute, no one had found us yet… "I was doing a good job of it until you pointed out that I was distracting us, you know."

"Both of us?"

"Well, I'm guessing so. You said it was good to keep distracted and you've been talking as well…" I decided NOT to mention that didn't seem to be doing well right now. _One downside of being blind—you totally can't tell if someone's pale or not._ "You didn't hit your head or anything, did you?"

"No, I don't believe so," Naru said, looking a bit surprised. Even so, I gently put my hands to his head, gently moving hair so I could sense if there was a bump. "Didn't I say I didn't hit my head?" he complained, but didn't remove my hands.

"Well, I'm checking anyway," I said, listening as the cry of the crows filled the silence. "Crows… they aren't the friendliest birds out there."

"No, but if someone comes by they'll get quiet."

"Ah, that's true." Satisfied that he hadn't, in fact, suffered any brain damage I could tell, I leaned back against the cool concrete. "You know, there once was this pigeon…"

"Did you share the same brain width?"

"Stop insulting me for two seconds and hear me out, okay? So there was this pigeon, and it basically hated everything. No, seriously. It did. But for some reason… it didn't mind me. I'd walk to school and that bird would follow me there. Walk back… it followed me home. I wasn't allowed to feed it, but it always stayed in our yard, so eventually I got a birdfeeder. One day, I fell down this hill, and I hurt my leg pretty badly."

"So you were a klutz back then, too?"

"Didn't I just say to stop insulting me? So this pigeon… well, it was there when I fell, even though no one else was anywhere nearby. It stayed a moment, and I started crying because, well, it hurt. It left, but I barely noticed. Apparently, it went to my house and started pecking at the kitchen window where my mom was. She went over and saw the pigeon. I didn't really know, but it had taken one of the bows that had fallen out of my hair when I fell. My mom ran out the house to try and find me… and the pigeon followed her. It actually tried to lead my mother to where I was. She eventually started to follow it… and she found me. I was still crying. I went to the hospital, and when I got out, that same pigeon came right up to me and gave me my ribbon. I never saw it after that… but I guess I'm still thankful. That night… well, if no one had found me… it was the middle of winter…"

"So you're saying a pigeon saved your life?"

"I guess so." Suddenly, there were hands on my head. "Hey!"

"I'm making sure you didn't hit your head," Naru said, and I didn't even have to sense his face to know he was smirking.

"Shut it," I pouted, letting him run his hands through my hair, gently checking for a bump. "Can you even see down here?" I was trying really, really hard not to turn cherry red. Therefore, saying anything at all was helping.

"Not really, but if I hit a sensitive spot you'll probably yell at me." After a minute of me struggling to keep an even breathing pace since he was really _very_ close, he pulled away and rested against the wall again. _Why does it even matter? I mean, I checked his head, right? So it's no big deal, really! So what if I could feel his breath against my forehead and so what if I could tell what he smelled like, it's not that big a deal!_

_I am SO not a convincing talker…_

"I'm guessing you found nothing?"

"Nothing. Shocking, isn't it?" Naru was smirking. I decided to glare as a response. Better than to blush like an idiot.

And so, we sat there for a little while in a somewhat comfortable silence.

_Drip._

I faced Naru again, scanning his face for any indication if he was doing better or worse than before.

_Drip. Drip._

"Don't worry Mai," said Naru, seeming to sense my concerned stare. "When everyone gets back together to report they'll see I'm not there and come looking for me. At least I know that Lin will." Usually, I'd say something along the lines of _'Just you?'_ but I DID have a bad tendency to do whatever I wanted, so… me disappearing for a while probably wasn't too strange of an occurrence.

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

Still, I hope Naru doesn't get any worse… even if he totally misinterpreted as to why I was facing him. I guess he thought I had gotten scared again. While not entirely untrue, I just hoped Naru was okay… _When did I start caring this much? I mean, I'm not cold hearted but…_

_Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. _An entire chorus of drips resounded though the space in even intervals or time.

Suddenly, Naru was kneeling forward, looking ready for something. "What's wrong?" I asked him

"Whatever happens, stay close and keep calm," Naru said, not even looking behind me, instead keeping his gaze focused on one sole spot. _Yeah, that's DEFINITELY the way to tell a person to keep calm!_

Then… the whole space lit up in a pulsating blue light. And considering that it's me… a ghost just showed up.

I shuffled behind Naru. "What's that?" I questioned, hoping that he somehow was doing this and that I wasn't about to go head-on with another ghost. Out of the eerie (for more reasons than one) glow came long hair, then part of the face to reveal two bloodthirsty eyes. I gasped in fear.

_I know this pattern… this is the woman who's after Naru!_

"It's alright," Naru reassured. "The spirit couldn't have grown much more powerful in one day. Stay calm and we'll be just fine." _Easy for you to say! You're the one who pulled an all-nighter doing this just so you could see what would happen!_

Something suddenly protruded from the mouth of the ghost. It looked like… a handle? The woman spirit pulled it out of her mouth to reveal a bloody scythe.

"What's she doing?" I asked, hoping the answer would be anything but about how she was probably going to slit our throats with that thing. _Oh god, she's bleeding from the mouth! The scythe cut the inside of her nonexistent mouth and… and…!_

Naru reached behind himself and grasped my wrist lightly. "It's okay," Naru said, his voice even and calm.

"Naru," was the only thing I was able to say.

The woman flipped over, became upright, and dropped down to stare at Naru, the only thing between them being the scythe she held close to his face. Honestly, it was weird to have to sense one face and see the other, but I wasn't exactly focused on the difference because, even though she was still closer to Naru than she was me, I was oddly more worried that she _was_ closer to Naru than she was me.

_Oh, somebody… Monk… Ayako… anybody… help!_

Then, a blur of white light sliced straight through the air in front of us. The woman backed away and disappeared as the little blob floated defiantly in front of Naru.

"Wha- Naru, where did it go?" I asked, referring to the woman. More blobs floated down from the where the ladder was.

"Naru? Are you down there?" I heard a voice call out. That sounded like…

I walked over to the broken ladder and looked up to the opening, sending my senses as far as I could straight up. It was hard but I could tell who it was. "Hey! It's Lin!"

Naru came over and stood beside me. Lin had a flashlight pointed straight down towards us, so Naru had to squint slightly as he looked up. "That was quick. We need a rope or a ladder, and a flashlight, please."

And thus, we were saved. A flashlight was tossed down. I caught it and gave it to Naru. He turned it on and pointed it straight at my face. I closed my eyes out of habit rather than it actually hurting, and he turned the light away.

I sent my senses around, checking for any more signs of a ghost.

Hey wait… what are those? I walked closer and gently picked one up.

"Mai! What are you doing now?!" Naru shouted as he realized I had sorta run off.

"Naru, you might want to look at this…" I yelled back, not even sending any of my senses over to look at him, solely focused on what I held in my hand.

_Well, I suppose this explains a few things…_

_**BLIND**_

"Mai, stop falling down holes. You even dragged Naru in with you this time!" Ayako said as she checked my wrist to make sure it was seriously nothing more that bruised.

"It's not like I go searching for holes each time I go out, you know," I grumbled.

"Naru, I'll check on you next, okay?" Ayako told him, He simply continued looking at the different hitogata, picking one up, shaking his head, then putting it back down just to pick another one up.

"You know, it's actually kinda impressive that there are this many of them," Monk commented on the pile of hitogata that lay on the table as Naru one of them down just to pick another one up. "I never would've thought to look in the sewer."

"There's Mai," Naru said, looking at the hitogata he held in his hand gently. _Eh? That's why he'd been looking through those things? Didn't Lin just record all of the names on them?_ "So Mai's doll, and also ones for Miss Hara, Yoshino, and myself were found."

"Our names weren't there?" Monk asked.

"Hm, well I guess that's a relief," Ayako said, not looking up from her work on my wrist.

"I don't know, I kinda feel left out," Monk joked.

"Now we have to burn the hitogata and throw the ashes in the river, and the power of the enmi will be broken," Naru declared, unofficially assigning us our next job.

Ayako closed the first aid kit with a resounding click. "But, do you believe this will stop the hexer?"

"We're not even completely sure who it is," Monk added.

Because I was either feeling brave or stupid, I took this moment to comment in. "Know who it's not? It's not Kasai, that's who!"

"Mai, come on, this is really getting old," Ayako reprimanded, but I held firm, and we began a glaring match. *8

"Hey, Naru? What's wrong?" Monk asked out of the blue. Ayako and I turned our attention to find Naru to be a bit slumped over. Even Lin turned on his heel in panic. "Are you feeling alright, man?" Monk asked, coming over to stand next to Naru's chair. "Naru?" Monk put a hand on Naru's shoulder.

Due to the sudden push from Monk's hand, Naru swayed to the side…

Fell out of his chair…

On the ground…

Not moving…

"Naru?" I stood up, just as disbelieving as the rest of the room.

No response…

"Naru!" I yelled, somehow hoping he'd just pull himself up and say he was fine.

… but he didn't.

_**BLIND**_

***1- Okay, so zuhzou is how I'm spelling it here. It's how it's spelled in the translation of the anime in the sub version. In the manga, it's spelled zuso. I contemplated on changing it even after posting it when I got a great idea. So I got some friends to try to pronounce either word it its two spellings. While it was actually rather entertaining, I decided on 'zuhzou' since said friends were more correct on the pronunciation with that spelling. An hour wasted on mispronounced words was totally worth hearing someone say, "Zuhu… Zaozu… Zo-ho-zo… zu-zu? Zeus? Zu… So? Zuhzao… What the hell am I supposed to be saying? Stop laughing you bastards! I know where all… well…. where MOST of you sleep!" and "Remind me to NEVER help you with a little favor EVER AGAIN, Sabastian."**

***2 Okay, so this is (again) about the Japanese school system. As far as my knowledge extends, they change grades during April or May (I think), and technically have school in session during summer vacation. Therefore, they have homework (lots of it) to do over their break, but still wouldn't change seats until they came back to school.**

***3 I would like to take this opportunity to show you that 'twelfth' is a really weird word, if you think about it. It just… is. Twelve is sorta weird too, honestly. Or maybe I'm just weird?**

***4 So I swear I am not meaning to put so many star… thingies. However, should you look at the screen on this part of the episode and look at Lin's screen, you'll find his notes say, "who doesn't know…. comes to report, andother school year student comes to extracurricular activities, so it is not strange even if know about Ms. Murayama". That is word-for-word. And yes, the lack of space between 'and' and 'other' was there too. Now, I know that this was made in Japan and that English is really difficult. I'm not meaning to make fun. After all, I know a few of you aren't native English speakers yourself, and I probably couldn't read a story in another language if I tried (so far, I've barely been able to interpret a French summary on this website). I just found it weird... Sorta how in the manga, if you look to the part where John spells his name on the paper during the first case, it's spelled 'Jhon'. It's no biggy, it's just interesting to see those little things. After all, if you ever heard me speak French, well, let's just say I **_**don't**_** and for very, very good reason. My pronunciation is ruddy horrible, and you'd be laughing too hard to listen before I even finished a single sentence. To put it simply… **_**Je ne parle pas français.**_** I… get the odd feeling I misspelled something in there… anyway, you get the picture. (God, that was long)**

***5 So, in the manga, Mai does throw some suspicion on Ms. Ubusuna. So… there. I wasn't just making stuff up as I go… well, not **_**completely**_**. Hehe.**

***6 Piddley is not an actual word. Of course, gunna isn't one either, nor is kinda or gotta or hexer… so I suppose it's okay. But that's what Mai said, so I just went with it.**

***7 It was at this point I realized that I felt like a complete idiot while typing this. Just saying. But it was funny, so it's okay, I guess. Heh. Plus all I could think about was how the heck Naru was doing that with a straight face… or the voice actors. (I also realized that there really should be a blooper reel for this anime…)**

***8 So in the manga, he falls over when Ayako comes to check on him, not Monk. I have no idea why they switched it, but hey, Masako also didn't get sent to the hospital and so both her and John were there the whole episode, so… **

**PSSSTTTT- I have a tumblr for SabastianScott by the same name. Someone convinced me to make it (mostly via demons she threatened to send over the internet, if I remember correctly, either that or she was the one who brought a gun into the review conversation), so there you have it.**

**Oh, and I've been asked this a few times. "Why is it you spell it 'Sabastian' with an A when it it's actually spelled with an E, 'Sebastian'?" Simply put… because I felt like it. Plus, the way I learned to pronounce it, it sounded like it was spelled with an A, not an E. Or maybe that's just how it's spelled on my birth certificate and you'll just never know, hehe. I'm tricky like that. Oh… And I am watching Black Butler, in case you're wondering. I haven't finished the series just yet, so don't you freaking DARE spoil or so help me… Oh, and here's a story for you. One of my nicknames when I was younger was apparently Sebastian, since I liked the Little Mermaid so much-this may or may not be true. But, once during a drama exercise thing, I was playing the role of a butler and had a 'master'. At the end of it, a couple of people were saying I did a good job. What did I say? "I'm simply one hell of a butler"…. Just for the record, I wasn't even into anime or manga at the time. Needless to say, I was super confused as to why I suddenly started getting called 'Sebastian'…. And all the accents everyone decided to adorn… And yes, I had a Viscount Druitt of my own… it was horrible… But my Ciel was awesome. Master requires his tea now…**


	11. Chapter 11

**I hope you guys know that I freaking love all of you, okay?**

**I'm now quite out of that slump I mentioned before… and looking back, it perhaps looks like I'm vying for attention, so I'm going to apologize for that now… Heh. **

**Ah, but there was a purpose for this. I'm curious-I think I mentioned before that I had a ton of random story things for Ghost Hunt (and other animes) as well as several crossovers… So I wanted to know if I should put them up under one story so that you guys can look through the random stuff my brain decides to put together. Since I can't obviously take on more than I can chew-or rather, I shouldn't-if you should feel like adopting one of them, I'll consider it. I'll give you whatever notes I have in the best of detail I can give you. But before I even think about that… would that interest you guys AT ALL? Because if it should… I'll post it. I'll also have any new ideas I suddenly come up with put on there. In other words, there's not an actual update schedule since ideas don't work that way. The stories probably won't be edited much, and will therefore probably suck. Be forewarned—I have a lot of really freaking weird ideas. And the crossovers will probably kill you a little bit. So… you can PM or review about that, if you want.**

**Dammit, that got wordy.**

**I don't own Ghost Hunt, obviously.**

**ENJOY! **

_**BLIND**_

_**Masako had fallen victim to the zuhzou curse and the rest of us were starting to feel danger closing in. Is Kasai really behind all of these awful things? It just doesn't feel right! **_

_I know that Kasai is innocent!__** I can't say it's anything more than my gut feeling… but it's so strong I have to believe it with all my heart.**_

_**And then… the zuhzou even came after me! **_

"_**Burn the hitogata and throw the ashes in the river, and the power of the enmi will be broken," is what Naru said, but after saying that, he suddenly collapsed!**_

_**NARU! WAKE UP!**_

_**BLIND**_

Thursday

Night

"Naru!"

Within the seconds after I said that, the room was turned straight to action.

Even the blobs seemed a bit frantic…

Lin had gone and picked Naru up, checking his pulse and such. "Somebody find a phone, he needs an ambulance," he ordered, and almost instantaneously it seemed as if an ambulance siren could be heard. Everything went by so fast… did I call the ambulance? Or did someone else?

Soon, it was only Monk, Ayako, and me in base.

Masako was in the hospital, but would be fine.

John stayed at the hospital with Masako to make sure she _stayed_ fine.

Naru just went unconscious out of nowhere.

Lin had accompanied him in the ambulance.

Our team seems to just have been halfed almost effortlessly. Heck, even the blobs had left!

Monk, seeing as he was the only leader-type person left, went ahead and took charge. "Okay, let's go ahead and get rid of the hitogata," Monk said. "After that, we should go back to the office and wait for Lin to contact us. We won't change our strategy or pull out of here unless Naru gives the word."

"You're right," Ayako agreed quietly. "Let's do it."

_This is all my fault. It's because I didn't let go of Naru's hand. I did, didn't I? I'm such an idiot. I'll never forgive myself if something happens to him!_

As I was wallowing in guilt, a hand placed itself on top of my head. "Hey, don't worry!" Monk encouraged. "Naru's going to be fine. Cheer up, okay? Let's go make a monster bonfire."

"Kay," I said softly, even though I definitely didn't feel like doing it.

"Besides, if we don't, Naru will probably get mad at us," he reminded me.

_That's… a good enough incentive to me!_

After all, a mad Naru was not something I wanted to deal with.

Even so, all I wanted was to be right next to him, and so help me I couldn't figure out why.

_**BLIND**_

Friday

It took most of the evening to check through everything and make sure the equipment was running. We ran through manual checks of the equipment, and in general just ran the base with only three people and only two sufficient sets of eyes.

By the time we went down to the river, set up the hitogata, had everything else ready, and Monk all dressed in his robes, it was early in the morning, and if my calculations were right, the sun was just beginning to rise.

Even as I sensed the flames carefully, even as I listened to Monk's chants, even as I felt the contrasting burn of the fire and the cold wind of the day, all I could think about was if Naru was going to be okay.

_Did he hit his head in the sewer and I didn't notice? Did he hurt himself more when he fell out of his chair? Did he exhaust himself too much? Has he woken up yet? Will more testing be done? He is doing alright, isn't he?_

The fire burned itself out, and Ayako started shoveling the ashes into a basket we prepared earlier with a small garden trowel we found in a shed on campus. Deciding to try and find something else even vaguely less upsetting to think about, I thought back to the case.

_We found the dolls, but who's the hexer? Who would put a death curse on me, Masako, and Naru? I don't want to believe that it's Kasai, but could it somehow be true?_

Ayako poured the ashes of the dolls into the river.

The power of enmi… it should be broken now, right? So that woman shouldn't appear before Naru with that scythe and those bloodthirsty eyes again.

At least I don't have to worry about that.

… I hope.

_**BLIND**_

I had lost Ayako and Monk as we walked back to the office. I had decided to go to the school. I had something I had to do.

They had probably noticed my presence. Well, probably… We were going to wait for Lin. But… this couldn't wait.

It just couldn't.

I found myself in the biology classroom with Kasai and Ms. Ubusuna.

"So, how is Mr. Shibuya doing?" Ms. Ubusuna broke the tense air that enveloped the room.

"I haven't heard," I confessed, "but… you know if anything bad happens to Naru I'll never forgive whoever's responsible."

I didn't understand what was happening. Why was it that all of a sudden Naru seemed to consume me? I suppose I always had this feeling somewhere in me, but for some reason it was amplifying. When he got hurt… I got so scared. I was STILL scared. Naru… he had to be okay, right?

I wasn't sure.

Kasai brought me back to the real world. "Oh," she said, "and you think that's me, don't you? You think I cursed you. You and Masako Hara and your boss Mr. Shibuya!" I clenched my fist. "You think I did the same thing with Mr. Yoshino and the other people who got hurt, and that I'm making all these scary things happen around here! Why don't you come out and say you think I'm guilty!"

"I can't!" I replied, "because I've never really believed you are." Kasai stared at me with a shocked expression. "Its… not very logical, but I can just feel it in my heart." _I know that Kasai is innocent_. "So defend yourself! It's not you! Kasai, you know you're not the kind of person who would cast curses or hurt people, so why won't you say it?!"

"I, uh…" Kasai was at a loss for words.

We stood there in silence. Then the door opened to reveal Taka. "Excuse me, Ms. Ubusuna?" she called out tentatively.

"Yes? What is it?" Ms. Ubusuna answered Taka.

"I wanted to tell Mai we just got a phone call from Mr. Shibuya," she said.

"Naru called?" I turned to face Taka.

_**BLIND**_

This is from what I gathered had happened at the hospital before I got there.

By Mai Taniyama. *1

"_**Are you sure he's here?" Ayako asked outside of a hospital room 503 with Monk. "I don't see his name anywhere."**_

"_**This is the room number Lin told me. If we're wrong we can always say that we're sorry," Monk replied as he knocked on the door. **_

"_**Come in," Lin's voice could be heard through the door. **_

"'_**Sup, Lin?" Monk asked casually as they walked into the room. "Hey, Naru!" he greeted as he saw Naru on the hospital-issue bed. **_

_**Ayako walked in after Monk, greeting Lin with a simple pat on the shoulder before joining Monk at Naru's bedside. 'Talk about a fashion overhaul,' she noted his hospital-issue white outfit in contrast to his normally black clothes. 'I like him in white,' she thought with a giggle. –Note by Mai Taniyama-WAIT, NARU WEARS BLACK ALL THE TIME?!—**_

"_**So how you feelin', man?" Monk asked with his typical speech patterns. **_

"_**It was just mild anemia, nothing worth talking about," Naru answered, looking up from his notebook for once.*2 "What did you do with the hitogata?"**_

"_**We burned them up and threw the ashes in the river like you told us to," Monk informed him. "Now all that's left is to find whoever made them."**_

"_**I'm almost positive I've figured that one out," Naru said.**_

"_**You have proof it's the Kasai girl?" Monk asked. **_

"_**Of course, who else would it be?" Ayako agreed with Monk. –Another note by Mai-OF COURSE they still think that! Didn't I say it's not Kasai!?—**_

_**Instead of giving an actual answer, Naru stayed aloof about it. "I'd like to meet with the culprit and have a little chat," he said before closing his notebook, "then this case will be closed and we can move on to something else. You two can go now."**_

"_**Wait a sec, we just barely got here Naru!" Ayako protested.**_

"_**You mean you're not even gonna let us in on who we've been looking for?" That was Monk.**_

"_**We need to handle this carefully, that's all," Naru responded. *3**_

"_**Well guess what? I made a commitment to this case just like you, and I think I deserve to know who the bastard is that we've been hunting down!" said Monk.**_

"_**You're out of your mind if you think I'm going to back out now when we're so close to the truth!" Ayako gave her own reasons for staying.**_

I'm going to end this now, as I busted though the door at this point. See, while Monk and Ayako had stopped at the door, I didn't. I was blind, so I couldn't see behind the little name plate thing behind the glass. I just needed the room number and hoped it was right. I didn't even stop at the reception desk, I just went straight through with, "I'm a visitor!" thrown at the receptionist as I went past.

"Oh, NARU!" I said as I held the footboard of the hospital bed. "Thank goodness. Oh my gosh is it true you're going to be okay?" I MIGHT have been a little too excited, but dammit, I was a teenager and emotions are really confusing right now!

Taka walked in at a more calm state than I.

"Yuuko? Why are you here?" Monk asked as he saw the new edition to the room.

"I asked her to come," Naru explained. "Is Kasai with you?"

"Yeah, she's here," Taka confirmed. Kasai walked in just then. You could feel the tension in the room almost instantly. "And one more. Come on it," Taka called into the hallway.

Ms. Ubusuna walked in with a bunch of flowers. _Dammit, what's with flowers showing up at our cases? Usually something bad happens with them…_ "Hello? Please excuse me, I hope I'm not intruding on everyone," Ms. Ubusuna said softly. Somehow, Naru's face became a bit more stiff—meaning a bit more serious—when Ms. Ubusuna stepped in.

In a blink of an eye, the three from Yuasa High School were seated in the three chairs on the wall to Naru's left, right beside the door.

"I have a couple of questions," Naru stated as he opened his notebook. "First one is for Yuuko and Kasai. Did either of you hear about me being an onmyouji from talking to Mai?" _Is he seriously asking that? He could have just asked me that one if he didn't already know it… which he does…_

"Being a what?" Well, that about explains it for Taka.

"Yeah, I did," Kasai said. "But so what?"

"Did you pass that information along to anyone?" Naru pressed.

"What the hell kind of difference would it make if I told anybody?" Kasai seemed frustrated. "Why are you asking me stupid questions? Just say I'm guilty! Just say I like to curse people!"

"Kasai, stop!" I said to no avail.

"I'm not stupid, why else would you have asked me to come here?" I think Kasai was at her breaking point…

"I need you to answer the question," Naru ignored her outburst. "You must've told someone I was an onmyouji, now who was it?"

Seeing that Kasai wasn't answering, Ms. Ubusuna spoke up this time. "I suppose Kasai did confine to me that she'd heard that," she said. Naru's eyebrows knitted down into a glare of some sort. "But please, rest assured, I haven't shared it with anyone else."

"I appreciate that," Naru acted like he hadn't just glared at her response. "I have just one more question to ask. Where are you from, Ms. Ubusuna?"

_What kind of question is that?!_

Apparently, judging by her facial expression, Ms. Ubusuna thought the same thing. "I'm from Fukushima," she answered. *4 "But why do you ask?"

_She's not from Tokyo? I thought she graduated at Yuasa?! And yeah, why do you ask, Naru?!_

"Fukushima…" Naru repeated to himself as he set his closed notebook on his lap. "Thank you very much. The case is solved. I believe I have a complete picture of the events at Yuasa and the person who's behind them."

"You know who did it?" Kasai asked incredulously.

"You figured it out from those questions?" Monk spoke exactly what I was thinking.

"It's really not that hard if you consider the facts of the case. We're dealing with zuhzou that uses enmi or hitogata, and if the hitogata are found and disposed of properly, the hex should be broken," Naru said.

"Okay, so who is it?" Monk said. He's not very patient, is he?

"You're trying to say it's me, that I did it, aren't you?" Kasai said with hysteria in her tone. There has been quite a lot of hysteria going around, huh?

"Calm down," Naru said, "it's not you." Both Kasai and I gasped. _So it's true?!_ It may sound a bit mean, but I was totally expecting him to accuse Kasai like everyone else, then have evidence, and then I'd have to try and convince myself. "I doubt you know how to make a hitogata or have the skill to perform the zuhzou curse, therefore we can rule you out."

"Alright, then who is it?" Ayako asked.

"Yeah, quit stalling Naru! Who did it?" Monk repeated.

_So now that Naru says it's not Kasai you actually AGREE?!_

"Our hexer," Naru paused for what I swear was dramatic effect, "is Ms. Ubusuna."

_Ms. Ubusuna… did all of this?!_

"Inside a manhole on the grounds we found hitogata with the names of myself, Mai, and Miss Hara as well as Mr. Yoshino and many other people at the school. You were the one who made them, aren't you Ms. Ubusuna?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. What on earth is a hitogata?" Ms. Ubusuna was oddly calm about it. It was an eerie calm.

Naru pressed on. "The straw doll used to cast the zuhzou hex. If there are any more out there please tell me where to find them, and I want you to promise that you won't create another one ever again."

"How could I make such a promise when I've done nothing wrong?" Ms. Ubusuna replied.

I viewed this as a tennis match of words between the two… and Naru couldn't stand to lose…

"You are guilty, Ms. Ubusuna," Naru continued to press it.

"There must be some confusion," Ms. Ubusuna brushed it off.

"All of the evidence points to your involvement."

"And what sort of 'proof' do you have?"

"You're wrong!" Kasai cut in. "I caused all of it to happen! I'm the one who's guilty!"

"The victims hurt you," Naru said calmly. "They were the ones who attacked and rejected you and publically ridiculed your psychic powers which makes it appear that the motivation for the culprit to begin casting curses was the Kasai Panic."

Ms. Ubusuna smiled. "Then correct me if I'm mistaken but wouldn't that make Kasai more of a suspect than I am? She even confessed to you just now, didn't she?" _What happened to defending Kasai?!_

"M-Ms. Kei…" Kasai's voice trembled in shock. She bent her head down as she thought about what had just happened... the very teacher that defended her just accused her.

"Actually no," Naru said. "Kasai could be ruled out because of her relationship with Murayama."

"Murayama?" Ms. Ubusuna asked.

"Yes, the first student that had an accident due to sitting at that desk. Didn't they know each other, Yuuko?"

"Huh?" Taka was not expected to be called on now. "Uh, yeah. I'm pretty sure that Murayama and Kasai were both members of the liberal arts club for a little while, before Kasai quit and joined the biology club." Taka looked towards Kasai for confirmation.

"Were you really?" I asked when Kasai apparently didn't notice Taka's stare.

"…For a little bit… Sophomore year…" Kasai answered very softly, not lifting her head at all.

"It was weird when Murayama yelled at her that time. I remember we were all sorta shocked by the fact that she actually had the courage to talk to an upperclassman in such a nasty way," Taka finished.

"If our culprit personally knew the student she was targeting she wouldn't have had to go to the trouble of putting a blanket curse on that desk, so why did she do it? Why would someone chose to curse a seat instead of a person? It's simple; the hexer didn't know Murayama or what she looked like," Naru said.

"Based on what you've just said I don't think you have enough evidence to convict me. Ehe, I could have easily asked around if I wanted to find out what her name was," Ms. Ubusuna continued defending herself.

"Following Murayama's complaint, those who denied the existence of psychic abilities banded together, and made their feelings known. By that point, you and others were made to feel isolated. Would you have really felt free to ask?" No answer. "We also have to consider the names used. Three people outside of Yuasa High School were targets of curses. That would be Mai, Masako Hara, and then myself. Aside from Miss Hara, whose celebrity makes it common knowledge, there are a limited number of people who know Mai's name or mine. Speaking for myself, I can only remember disclosing my full name to the school principal and then to you, in the lab when we first met."

_I'm Kazuya Shibuya… I remember him saying that as we entered…. Oh my gosh, I told her my name too! _

"The principal doesn't know Mai's name, so that would mean, as far as I can tell, that you're the only person here who knows all three of our proper names, Ms. Ubusuna," Naru said.

"Why would I want to put a curse on you? What kind of motive could I possibly have? I don't even know you," Ms. Ubusuna said.

"A few minutes ago, you said that Kasai told you she had talked to Mai who told her that I was an onmyouji. Isn't that right?"

"Yes, and?"

"Zuhzou hexes come from onmiyoudo. If I were an onmyouji, I might be able to put a stop to them, so you tried to get rid of me before I could figure it out and act."

"If that's true then why would I bring Mai into it?" _Good question, why bring me into this?_

"Mai has demonstrated unusually sharp intuition on this case. For example, she was the first person to declare that Kasai was innocent." _He's right… _ "You were afraid that people would start to believe her, so you cast a curse on Mai."

"It's not true…" Kasai sniffed. "Ms. Kei has been the only one who believed in me!"

"But Kasai!" I tried to get through to her.

"I did it. I said it in an assembly in front of everyone! I'll curse you death! I said it! I wanted them all to just go away! All of those people who made fun of me and treated Ms. Kei like garbage just because she was my friend!" Kasai was crying. "And then people started having accidents. Mr. Yoshino and Masako were really hurt…" Kasai broke down and sobbed openly into her hands. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I can't help it! It's me! It's all my fault! I cursed them and everything started and I didn't mean to!"

"It's easy to understand why'd you want to protect your teacher, Kasai." Naru's calm voice spoke to her. "She was the one to stand up and defend you, but there's no way a novice caused this. You simply don't have the ability to do it. You've even had difficulty bending spoons lately and that's a much easier skill."

Kasai lifted her head as she thought about it. _Right… she almost bent the spoon against the chair, that is, until Naru caught her._

"She almost used a trick to bend a spoon against the edge of a chair. Where do you suppose Kasai would have learned that particular trick to bend the spoon on the edge of a chair, Ms. Ubusuna?" Naru looked directly at Ms. Ubusuna.

"I'm sure I don't know."

"She learned it from you. Yes, you passed on your knowledge. No one else would know to do that." Naru looked towards Lin. This seemed to be a signal because Lin walked up to Naru carrying something in his hand. "You have a remarkable understanding of psychic powers and parapsychology, with an interest in some specialized fields as well." Lin handed Naru… a… magazine?

_Dammit, I can't read those either! It's all ink over ink and the paper's weird…_

Ms. Ubusuna, on the other hand, had a very… strange reaction. She seemed shock. Or rather, she looked mortified.

"I began to suspect that your involvement with Kasai's powers and her well-being wasn't purely for filling throbbing purposes," *5 Naru held up the magazine before flipping through the pages, "so I followed my hunch and started poking around in some old papers." Naru held the magazine open at some page. "It wasn't long before I came across this. According to the date here it was doing the psychic craze that happened when you were a child. Among the children who claimed to be able to bend spoons was a little girl named Kei Ubusuna."

Everyone seemed shocked. It seems like Kasai didn't even know that…

Naru continued. "As the craze grew and drew attention, many children began to come forward and claim they too had psychic power. At first the children became media darlings. Both television and print covered the stories, running specials and lavishing them with attention, but as curiosity began to fade, the public began to look down on the kids. People began to call them fakes and questioned whether any of them had any real powers at all. One of the girls who came forward during that time was a girl named Kei Ubusuna, from the Fukushima prefecture."

Ms. Ubusuna's hold on the flowers tightened. "I wasn't a fake! I could do it! I really did bend those spoons and a lot of people saw it!" she yelled. "It's just… sometimes it was easy, and other times it just wouldn't work, and then that reporter came to see me. He told me, 'If you really have these powers, you should be able to bend this. Would you like to give it a try and show me?' and he gave me a spoon. I remember that day so clearly. I thought if I failed he would write about what a liar I was and everyone would believe him. So just that once, I decided to use a little trick that another one of the psychic kids had shown me to bend the spoon, I was just so nervous! There was a photographer. He caught me… No one was there to tell me I didn't have to fake it. I didn't have anyone to teach me that when you can't make it work, it's okay to just admit it!"

_She must be talking about when Naru told Kasai about faking it earlier in the investigation… _

"I'm sorry," Naru said solemnly as he cast aside the magazine. "It's a shame Japan left the reputation of ESP and psychic research in the hands of the media. There were no credible research institutions at the time to determine whether there was real truth to the children's claims and abilities. This should never have been left to the court of public opinion. The media will always care more about headlines than truth."

"Did you really do it?" Kasai asked her teacher.

"At first, I only wanted to defend Kasai's talent, but then it got crazy, and people started saying things, like, 'Why don't you really help that girl instead of encouraging her?' and asking me how I could call myself a teacher," Ms. Ubusuna said.

"And so, you…" Naru left it up to her to answer.

"That's right…" Ms. Ubusuna smiled again. "It was only supposed to be a little prank."

_How can she be smiling?!_

"About ten years ago, an unusual car wreck occurred on small street near a Tokyo publishing firm," Naru said. Ms. Ubusuna gasped—she knew about this? Naru pulled a newspaper clipping out of his notebook. _Something I CAN read! Wait, I know this article…_ "The driver, who's erratic steering caused the accident, gave a detailed report to the police," he rattled off from the clipping. "He is quoted as saying that, 'Suddenly and seemingly out of nowhere, a disembodied hand appeared before my eyes'."

"Oh my gosh…" Taka gasped. Kasai seemed to be at a loss of words again.

"That's what happened to Mr. Yoshino," I said.

"The man who caused the accident also happened to be the reporter who published your story," Naru said to Ms. Ubusuna.

"Are you accusing me of that, too?" Ms. Ubusuna said.

"It certainly seems likely. But if you did cause the car to wreck, then there's no way in hell we'll believe you intended these 'pranks' of yours to be harmless. Luckily no one involved has died yet, but it was only a matter of time. If we hadn't found that hitogata in the desk and another student had been assigned there, they might have been dragged to death by a train," Naru said, his tone dark.

_It's so creepy. How can she keep smiling through all of this?!_

"Oh yes, that would have been tragic, but then, if someone had died, maybe people would've learned a lesson," Ms. Ubusuna lightly replied before rising to put the flowers she still held in the empty vase on the other side of the room. "A lesson about respecting things in this world that can't be explained by science."

_How did all of this happen? Are people that freaked out over Ms. Ubusuna and Kasai bending spoons?_

I thought of a spoon in my mind. And I bent it. What a ridiculous concept.

_I don't think so. I don't think this is really about certain people being right or wrong. A lot of people just went nuts over psychic powers and curses._

_It divided them._

I sent my senses toward Ms. Ubusuna calmly arranging the flowers in the vase.

_Ms. Ubusuna just got caught up in revenge and fear and lost sight of the responsibility to use her power wisely._

Ms. Ubusuna reached her hand into the flower stems she had been arranging. "Lin!" Naru ordered as soon as he watched her do it. Lin apparently knew what was going on, unlike the rest of us. Lin ran over to the table and grabbed the flowers out of the vase and away from Ms. Ubusuna.

"What are you doing? You give those back!" Ms. Ubusuna shouted. _What's going on?!_

Lin searched though the stems, pulling something out of them. He gasped at what he held in his hand. _No way…._ Lin handed the thing to Naru.

It was hitogata. It was addressed to Kazuya Shibuya.

"You must be exhausted by now, Ms. Ubusuna," Naru said calmly. "A zuhzou takes both mental and physical strength, and it seems you're beginning to look pretty worn out."

"Perhaps…" Ms. Ubusuna said lightly in defeat. "I suppose you could be right."

"Monk, call the principal and inform him that Ms. Ubusuna needs counseling," Naru ordered.

"Right," was Monk's simple reply.

_If having powers makes you as sad and crazy as that… then… I don't think I want 'em._

It was after that we all left the hospital to leave Naru in peace.

Kasai… she was a bit of a mess.

"Shhh, Kasai, it's okay," I tried to reassure her as she cried on me. We were in the middle of a park, on a bench, and before you even think of asking, I have no clear recollection of how we got here.

"But Ms. Kei, she… s-she-" Kasai broke down again.

This was getting nowhere fast.

"It's okay, Kasai. She'll be okay. This whole thing got to her head, that's all," I said as I hugged the girl.

"D-Do you think so?" Kasai said, finally looking me in the eyes.

"I know so," I said, even though I actually didn't have a clue. The little voice that had been bugging me about Kasai's innocence wasn't helping at all. Right when I need it, too.

We sat there in silence as Kasai's sobs died down. "Can… can I ask you something?" Kasai said.

"Anything."

"Are you blind?"

_She figured out?! Well, she already knows…_

"Yeah, I am…" I said softly.

"You are WHAT?!" I heard from behind us. I turned to find… Ayako.

Dammit all!

"Uh, hi, Ayako? How's the weather?" I asked lamely, trying to think of a way out of this.

"Nuh-uh, no can do on that. You're explaining, now," she demanded, walking over and sitting on the other edge of the bench beside Kasai.

"Um… what are you even doing here?" I tried stalling.

"I was going to apologize to Kasai for accusing her and then tell her that Naru has something to tell her… but he can wait until I figure out why I am just now finding out about you being blind!" Ayako yelled the last part.

"SH! Not so loud," I whispered, thankful that this park was pretty much empty except for us three.

"Who else knows," she demanded.

I sighed. the cat's out of the bag, as they say… might as well get this over with. "Monk and John."

"How long have they known and how on earth did they figure it out?"

"John accidentally found out from my principal during the first case and Monk accidentally saw a part of my diary. He saw a sentence where I confessed the fact that I was blind, so…"

"So John found out accidentally and Monk found out by reading a girl's diary. Very nice."

"It was by accident BOTH times! They meet up every Saturday at the office and harass me now. Well, Monk more than John, but still!"

"Why do that?" Kasai asked, inviting herself into the conversation. Her eyes had dried, and she looked genuinely curious.

"Well, they say it's so that if I need any help or something due to my little 'disability', that I can always go to them. Personally I think Monk's just enjoying that almost no one else knows except John, and if Naru ever figures it out he wants to brag and say something like, 'You know all those Saturdays I spent at the office with John? It was because I knew!' or something stupid like that…"

"Mr. Shibuya doesn't know?" Kasai asked.

"Nope. If he does, he hasn't said a word about it," I said honestly with a shrug.

"So how do you get out of monitor duty? Even Masako and I have been forced to do it," Ayako grumbled.

"Eh? You have? I can't see Masako doing that…" I tried imagining it, but for one, if you are blind and have only sensed the things around you, it makes imagining scenarios a little hard, and two, Masako just didn't fit! "Anyway, I think it's because I glare at them the whole time and get really snappy when I am forced to… you can't imagine how it was during that first case without Lin."

"How long did it take for him to take you off of monitor duty?" Kasai asked this question.

"A tutorial on how to use the equipment plus five minutes," I said earnestly. I never really mentioned it until now, now that I thought about it.

"What about temperatures? Doesn't Naru usually make you do that?" This was Ayako.

"I made Naru set the thermometers up so that they read the temperature out loud, plus I usually get Monk or John to help me."

"You got Naru to do that?" This was Ayako again.

"Neither he nor I seem to know exactly how it happened…"

"How do you read and write and stuff?" Kasai asked.

"This is where things get complicated," I sighed. "You see… er, forgive the accidental pun… I have these… senses I guess you could call them. I use these to read and write and stuff by following either the grove or trail of ink, chalk, lead, or whatever left on paper. I can't read laminated paper, monitors and other electric equipment, or magazines…"

"So like… sonar on a bat? You know, to locate bugs and stuff in the dark?" Kasai said. *6

"I guess so… never really thought of naming it…" I replied earnestly.

"Okay, so why the big secret?" Ayako said.

"Think of it this way, Ayako. Remember the first time we met? What if I told you then that I was blind? Would you think of me like you did Kuroda?"

"Kuroda?" Kasai asked.

"She caused a poltergeist in the old school building at my school. She didn't even know she was doing it, but she claimed to be psychic and see ghosts in the old building." I answered. "Ayako often and immediately shot down Kuroda's claims. Kuroda actually locked her in a room because of it."

"Yeah, I guess I did…" Ayako said thoughtfully.

"You don't even remember?!" I yelled.

"That aside," she said, "you're right. I probably would have looked at you a lot differently. Well, I still sorta am, but not like I would have then…"

"See, I don't mind it now, since you already sorta know me. But back then, wouldn't you assume I wouldn't be capable? That's why…" I sighed.

"You were teased about it, weren't you?" Kasai said with a shocked expression.

"No, I AM teased about it," I replied.

"No way," Ayako said.

"Uh-huh. It's not really that bad. It sorta sucks, but unlike my old school, not a lot of people know it at my current school. I have a few friends in this school, and some of them know and understand. The few who don't haven't blabbed to the whole school, so it's not like I'm ganged up on… Though, I think Michiru might have something to do with that, she and Keiko are protective…"

"You had to switch schools?" Kasai asked.

"Well, I had to anyway for other reasons, but yes, I did. I also used to go from one part-time job to another since I kept getting fired. I would write in the form to talk to my doctor about any concerns for health and whatever, and as soon as they found out, they deemed me a liability and fired me."

"So what you're saying is that, in order to avoid being looked down on, teased, and/or fired, you decide to not tell anyone you're blind," Ayako summed it all up.

"Yeah, basically," I sighed. Honestly, with another person or two knowing I felt as if I had a weight off my chest.

"Huh. So I'm guessing I shouldn't discuss this with any of the other members, huh?" Ayako said.

"John and Monk, yes you can discuss it. Otherwise, no," I said.

"How should we let them know we know?" Kasai said.

I shrugged. "Show up on a Saturday?" I suggested. "Whisper 'I know' in their ears and see what happens?"

"You think they'd freak out?" Ayako said as smiled evilly.

"I would. Just, ah, don't do it in front of the others, since you'll eventually have to tell them what you know," I said.

"Wait a second," Kasai said and turned over to Ayako. "Don't we hate each other, or something?"

"Maybe," Ayako replied.

_**And with that, Kasai and Ayako knew that I, Mai Taniyama, am blind. **_

_**BLIND**_

A few days later…

"Woah… all of them?" Monk said incredulously.

_Why does Naru hate me?_

He had just made me do… what the hell AM I doing?! He said that he was doing an experiment and testing me for psychic powers…. However… Guessing the light that would light up… it was accompanied by an individual sound for each one. There was a test run for light and sound one, light and sound two, light and sound three, and light and sound four. I had to guess which one would be the next to light up. It was completely ridiculous. How would this test anything?!

…And, Monk was right, I didn't get a _single damn one._

"Wow, to miss that many of them…" Even JOHN was in on this!

"Yes, it's terribly impressive, Mai," Masako taunted sarcastically.

"Or something," Ayako responded.

"I knew it," Naru said from where he sat behind the laptop connected to the machine of torture. "Everyone, Mai is a latent psychic."

"I am?!" I said. _Didn't I say or think or agree or whatever that I did NOT want psychic powers just a few days ago?! The universe hates me too…._

"You've attempted," key word ATTEMPTED, "to guess which of the bulbs in the box would light up and make a sound and hit the corresponding button over a thousand times now," Naru explained. A thousand, really?! Was that actually necessary? "To not get one hit is almost a mathematical impossibility. I think it's clear that this means Mai's sharp instincts on this case weren't a coincidence."

"Well I gotta say I thought she was a rock star a long time ago," Monk commented in. "Remember the creepy dollhouse? She fell down the well and had that trippy dream, and then when the gas line was on fire she saw that kid." Monk leered closer to me. "You absolutely sure that wasn't a spirit?"

I gasped. _Did I seriously?! Then again, I did actually see it, and I am blind, and so far I've been only able to actually see spirits…. Why the hell didn't I figure this out sooner? Maybe Naru's right, I am an idiot…_

Monk laughed at my reaction with a grin.

"Actually, that could be true. Mai is extraordinarily sensitive when it comes to those who have intent to do harm," Naru said. I smiled. It seemed like he was actually complimenting me somewhat! "She has a very natural sense of self-preservation… much like a wild animal, she can instinctively sniff out friend from foe."

_And the moment is gone. Did he seriously need to use the word 'sniff' in all of that too!?_

"So although Mai look ordinary on the outside, inside she's all 'jungle cat'?" Ayako commented with a smirk.

_Don't say it… don't say it… you'll regret it…_

I was thinking about what spoon bending would make him, but I made a promise and I intend to keep it. *7

Choosing to ignore the laughter, I picked up a spoon off the table and started playing with it. As it turns out, Naru now has Kasai come over to train her powers with Lin. Needless to say, there are now spoons everywhere in the office. I think I actually have one in my bag somewhere.

Monk looked at me fiddling with the spoon ignoring them before he seemed to remember something. "Oh right! I've been meaning to ask about this," Monk looked to Naru. "How did you get Kasai to trust you? I went to apologize for constantly accusing her and she hit me. It hurt a lot, actually… she was all buddy-buddy after that, but I got curious. She apparently talked to you and constantly talked to Mai…. How'd you do it?"

_Dammit! It's not like we can say that Naru bent and broke a spoon…_

I kept thinking, and staring at the spoon in my hands. "Mai?" Ayako said as she stared at me clenching the spoon.

Monk and the rest turned towards me at her comment. Even Lin did.

_A spoon… that's it!_

I quickly moved the spoon so I held it like Naru did. I know he probably actually bent the spoon and that he broke it, but I noticed that if you held it a tiny bit differently, you could fake the bending part.

I held it carefully and supported the handle behind part of palm. Using that as leverage, I put some strength behind it…

And it bent.

I didn't look up, but I knew the others were staring. Well, then there was Naru. He was grinning… And then Lin, who apparently figured out where I got it from and was now glaring at Naru.

"HA!" Monk started laughing. "Nice trick, kid," he said.

"Trick?" Masako asked quietly. "How so?"

"You see," Monk explained as he grabbed a spoon, "she held it like this, right? So she made it so that the spoon's handle was supported by a part of her palm. So if you apply pressure to the head, instead of teetering back, it's forced to bend instead." Monk took the spoon and replicated the trick I used. The spoon bent, just as he said.

The others grabbed a spoon and copied him.

"You're right." John commented as his spoon bent just like the others.

"Where'd you learn that trick Mai?" Ayako asked.

_Uh…_

Naru actually came to my rescue on this one. "The best way to keep from falling victim to a trickster is to make sure you know all the tricksters' secrets," he said. The room soon split into separate discussions as I examined all the bent spoons…

A few minutes later, when everyone was distracted, Lin walked up to Naru as if to either tell him something or throttle him. Knowing Lin as well as I do…

I have no freaking clue.

Seeming to know what Lin was talking about, Naru held up a hand and whispered, "I'll keep a lid on it." Lin nodded before walking back to where he was. Still, he put a hand on my shoulder to get my attention.

"Don't let him make you cover for him all the time," he said before he disappeared to his office.

"That was… weird…" I said to myself. The others seemed preoccupied. Naru slipped off to his office.

"Mai, tea," he called over his shoulder.

"Alright!" I said, brushing aside the Lin thing to make Naru some tea.

A few minutes and a cup of tea later, I walked into Naru's office. "Do you ever knock?" he looked up from his work.

_I leave him alone for not even ten minutes and he already finds himself work to do…_

Deciding to ignore his question, I walked up to his desk and set down his tea. "Here you go!" I said cheerfully. I turned to walk out, deciding that, since he sorta saved me not only a few minutes ago but also during the case in the manhole, I could stand to not pester him for a thank you for a few tea calls.

"Mai?" he called out. I stopped and turned over my shoulder to face him.

"Hm?" I mused to show that I was listening.

"Thanks for covering for me," he said.

"Wha—oh, no problem! I said I'd keep it a secret, didn't I? Though it seems that Lin figured it out anyway... and you especially said not to tell him…"

"Well it figures. There's no helping it. Though I am curious, how did you figure out that trick?"

"I watched you do it, remember? So when I was trying to ignore that little 'wild animal' and 'jungle cat' bit I messed with a spoon… When Monk questioned you, I wasn't sure what to do, but when Ayako noticed me freaking out and holding a spoon I decided to see if I could trick them. I couldn't use Ms. Ubusuna and Kasai's trick, so I took notice of how I could use my palm and hoped it worked," I said. "Honestly, it was very last minute…"

"I'm impressed you figured it out that quickly," Naru said before turning back to his work and drinking his tea. "You can leave now."

"Yes sir!"

And so, another case was solved.

But I had to wonder… when I asked Ayako about what happened before I got in the hospital room, she said Naru looked way different in white than his constant black.

Obviously, I didn't know. I'm blind. I only know one reason to wear black. So that leaves to question….

Why is Naru wearing mourning clothes? Or better yet… For whom?

_**BLIND**_

**Well, it's finally over… dear Lord, I think this case kept dragging a bit—although that could have very well been my fault—and I'll admit that I'm glad it's over. After this case, I feel that things are probably going to pick up a bit more. Hopefully… please?**

***1 Okay, so this was the only freaking way I could think of for this scene, since in the manga none of that happened, and I ran out of translated novel to refer to. Damn. So sorry if that is really weird and if it sucks since originally all three (Ayako, Monk, Mai) enter together. Anyway, another side note I might as well mention here, when Mai, Monk, and Ayako enter, Masako is already there (she doesn't get hurt in the manga, I think I mentioned that). Mai and Ayako snicker to each other about Naru's state of dress. Ayako-Look! Naru in non-black clothes! Mai- How rare is this!? Ayako- That is rad! Mai- It's kind of funny. Then Masako comments in with- You guys are so inappropriate. I keep looking at that panel and laughing and I have no idea why…**

***2 For those unaware, anemia is low iron levels in the blood and such… while Naru may or may not actually have that, he did not actually collapse from anemia, just so you know. I'm not sure if I'll ever be able to mention it again, but I'll try to remember to. In the case that I forget, he collapsed because he used his powers to move the rocks in the sewer so they wouldn't fall on them and… you know… get severely injured and/or die… that would be one hell of a way to end a series. Two and a half cases and DEAD. It'd be an interesting plot twist, though. A sucky one, yes, but interesting still.**

***3 He is referring to the fact that when he checked into the hospital, they accidentally used his real name instead of his assumed one. That's why there was no name at the door—they turned it around so the blank side would show. So the nurses and doctors would know his real name, though he doesn't want to be found out. Naru doesn't want them around in case one of the staff called him by his real name while they are there. I'm trying to imagine Naru and Lin's faces/reactions when they realized their faux pas… **

***4 The Fukushima prefecture, actually. I don't know how Japan works with prefectures and all that, so if you wanted more on that, I can't help you. Just go with the fact that it's an area of Japan because in the end that's basically what it is.**

***5 Okay, I'll admit… I have no damn clue what he's saying. I gave up trying to figure it out and just put that down. It sounds like… I don't know. Couldn't he just say 'heart-throbbing' and be done with it?! No, we have to be complicated… phylum… no… filming… no… screw it, it's filling. That's the best I've got. It actually sounds like filming, but like I said. I give up! And it sounds weird… at least with 'filling throbbing purposes' it… okay, it still sounds weird, but it's not as bad as 'filming throbbing purposes'… that sounds like an instruction to a medical student… Phylum, as you might remember, is part of the scientific naming of things. Domain, Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species (I remember by using Dmitri Kain Periodically Comes Over For Good Spices… and yes, Dmitri is spelled correctly, though you might spell it Dimitri). Phylum is also a group of languages or language stocks thought to be historically related (Afro-Asiatic or Indo-European)… Either way, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Maybe I should have just said 'heart-throbbing'…**

***6 Okay, credit goes to VeniVidiVici123 for pointing out these next few questions through a few PMs I got from… er… her? Him? I had this part planned out but I didn't think of asking these questions. Thanks a lot, VeniVidiVici123! :D**

***7 This will be one of the few times I outright ignore all of the series and change it. I really, REALLY hated this scene. I just… I can't even watch it while watching the series. I've tried, trust me. I usually end up skipping it and pretending it never happened… I can think of maybe two other scenes I'll do this with. One, because I also hated it, and two, because of the plot I've made, it just might not fit in with the rest of it… So anyway, Mai keeps the secret, well, secret, and this actually has a bigger change for later in the series than you may realize. Hehe.**

… **Do you guys even read these? Here's a test—potato.**

**DEAR FREAKING LORD THERE IS BUG THE SIZE OF MY PINKIE—it's dead. Sorry. I only screamed for a minute straight, no worries. Facing off demons, no problem, where's my incense and crosses and stuff. A bug? Well… I'll just go hide now and die… weeping…**

**Anyway, my little 'episode' aside… I have another question I'll answer for you. I don't remember when I was asked this, or by whom, or if I just dreamt the whole thing, but the question is, 'Is this your first fanfic?' Well, the answer is yes and no. I actually wrote Sonic the Hedgehog fanfiction when I first started out, and I published (AKA posted) that stuff on my old DA account by a different name. I think I MIGHT have written a story or two to Ghost Hunt, but I'm not sure, since if I did, I never published (posted) it. However, Blind was the first fanfic I was really anywhere serious about and the first fanfic I made under SabastianScott. So Yes, for SabastianScott, being really serious, and Ghost Hunt, this was my first fanfic. However, it is still No, because I used to write under a different name for the Sonic the Hedgehog fandom. And before you ask, I don't have plans for rewriting the old Sonic stories and posting them anywhere.**

**(I'm figuring out whether I should answer more questions or start my fanfic suggestion thing again… I've been a bit lazy about it so I sorta forgot to post them…)**

**If you have any questions to ask, feel free to! I'm glad to answer any questions you have about the story or the weird spellings of Sabastian… or maybe you just wonder if I'm French or English or something. Ask away! And I always love hearing feedback, so if you want to leave a review, feel free to. You guys are very nice to me, so I'm thankful for that! (Like, seriously, you have no idea) I also have a tumblr for SabastianScott, so if you want to follow me you're welcome to. I have no idea what I'll post, but I'll figure it out eventually. I guess I'll post about my stories or random scenes you want written or questions you want answered or… something.**

**Until next time…**


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